


DANGANRONPA: Redeux

by boundtoanandroid



Category: Dangan Ronpa
Genre: Other, it's like regular dangan ronpa but different characters
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-02-02
Updated: 2016-02-02
Packaged: 2018-05-17 20:52:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 10
Words: 24,697
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5884759
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/boundtoanandroid/pseuds/boundtoanandroid
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Another school has been built, this time in America, but it is still the dreaded school that Hope's Peak has become notorious for. Students are once again being pinned against each other in this game of death. What lies within the supposedly elite and newer Hope's Peak Academy? Who's the mastermind behind this series of mutual killings? Who will die next?</p><p>Find out in the next chapter of DANGANRONPA: Redeux!</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Part One: Welcome to Despair School

**ACT ONE: A SCHOOL OF MUTUAL KILLINGS**

**Part One: Welcome to Despair School**  
**SKYLER**

 

‘Hope’s Peak Academy...’ he thought in wonder. ‘I can’t believe I’m here...’

Skyler Miller stood outside the gates of the elite academy, staring up at the tall building. This school was internationally known for producing the best of the best. It was rumored that anyone who attended was guaranteed success in life, which only made Skyler further question why he had been chosen to attend. He had no special talents, his grades were average; everything about him was. Anything popular on the charts, he probably liked.

‘There’s absolutely nothing special about me,’ he would think to himself. ‘I only got into this school out of pure luck.’

Skyler sighed and glanced at the entrance letter in his hand, reading over it again to prove he wasn’t dreaming. Skimming over the page, he stopped to read a certain line.

‘Congratulations, SKYLER MILLER, on your acceptance into Hope’s Peak Academy!’

His name had been written in a blank, showing that this was indeed for him and him only. Disbelief had been written all over his features when he had first received the letter exactly one month ago. While there was delight within his entire family, that sense of disbelief had followed him the entire wait for his new school life. He felt he didn’t belong here, at least when compared to the other students he would be attending with.

Skyler had done his research on the others before coming to the hope-filled school. There were so many amazing people in his class this year, such as the Super High School Level Artist, Cecil Evans. Of course Skyler had heard that name before. Cecil was all over the news, his success at such a young age attracting a lot of attention his way. Skyler almost refused to believe that the young man was only sixteen. According to what the internet said about him, he began his artistic journey at age seven. The child had some natural artistic skill at that point, but he quickly learned to hone his abilities and become great. His artwork, especially his latest pieces, sold for up to five hundred thousand dollars at the bare minimum. The artist truly was remarkable.

Another student that stuck out in his research was the SHSL Pyromaniac, Dante Draecane. Skyler found him to be a more interesting choice for Hope’s Peak to make.

‘What kind of talent is “pyromaniac”?’ Skyler had thought.

Apparently, the seventeen year old had been talented in his use of fire for most of his life. However, there was not very much information on him available on the web. There was a large cloud of mystery surrounding him. According to several sources claiming to have met him, he was very standoffish towards people, and seemed very hostile. What Skyler found amusing is that most everyone described him as having a fiery temper. It seemed suiting for the Pyromaniac.

There was the SHSL Poet, SHSL Performer, SHSL Swordsman for God’s sake! Skyler didn’t stand a chance against these guys! There was no way he’d ever fit in here. He only went because of his parents nearly forcing him into it. They said “it was the only way he’d ever find success in life”, which was a serious blow to the ego. However, he knew they were right, as pitiful as that is for him to admit.

Snapping himself back into reality, he looked back up at the gates before taking a deep breath and preparing himself. A miniscule smile appeared on his face as he pushed up his glasses and took his first step into the building, pushing open the gates. However, the moment his feet touched the black and white tiled floor of Hope’s Peak, his vision distorted and blackened.

‘Little did I know that that was the last of my peaceful life. Hope’s Peak wasn’t what I thought it was. Instead of the SHSL Luckster, my title should be the SHSL Unluckster.’

 

 

  
When he awoke, his head was resting on his arms on a school desk. They ached, implying that he had been there for quite a while. Slowly blinking open his pale blue eyes, Skyler took in the appearance of the room he resided in. It was a classroom for sure, there were other desks like the one he currently sat in, a podium at the front of the room, and a blackboard with nothing written on it. The walls were an odd yellow and orange pattern, and the floors were tiled with black and the same orange as the walls. There were iron plates bolted over where the windows should be, effectively blocking the outside world from view.

Skyler sat up and stretched, and nearly jumped out of his seat when he heard his back pop. He really must have been there a while. He stood, almost falling because of his stiff legs. How long had he been there? Where even was he? These questions remained unanswered as Skyler left the classroom and began walking around the building.

After some inspection, he came to the conclusion that he was in Hope’s Peak.

‘I mean, that’s the only possible place I could be in.’ He hesitantly thought as he continued to wander. The hallways were abandoned, and there wasn’t a single soul in sight. There was a sense of apprehension looming over Skyler as he continued to walk around the empty hallways. Then he heard a noise coming from a room down the longest hall. It sounded like a small group of people talking. Curious, he followed the noise, ending up outside a door with a sign hanging above it that read “GYMNASIUM”. Hesitantly, he opened the doors and stepped inside the gym.

Just as he had thought, there was a small cluster of high school aged teenagers gathered in the middle of the gym floor. They had a lot of variety between them, in height, race, gender, and overall aura. Some held a menacing aura about them, others seemed very innocent and fun loving. Most of them turned to look at him at the sound of the door opening. However, some of the ones who looked to be a bit snootier didn’t bother to glance his direction.

Skyler stepped further into the gym, walking up to the group of high schoolers. A shorter girl with black and blonde hair flushed upon him seeing her and gave him a small wave. He smiled at her and waved back. A Middle Eastern boy in a lab coat took a deep breath before grinning down at Skyler.

“Hello.” He said, his voice a bit higher than Skyler would have expected. “I’m Owen, SHSL Scientist. What’s your name?”

A few of the others listened in, curious to know Skyler’s name and SHSL title.

“I’m Skyler, the SHSL Luckster.”

A blonde girl in a tiara then made herself seen. “Hi, Skyler! I’m Lauren, SHSL Performer.”

Skyler nodded his head. “Yeah, I know.”

“What?” She raised a hand to her mouth in shock. “You know me?”

He nodded. “Yeah. I saw one of your shows a few years ago when you came to Tennessee.”

She gasped. “What show was it?!” She suddenly had a burst of energy at the mention of one of her performances. Apparently she took a lot of pride in them.

“Um…” Skyler’s eyebrows furrowed as he tried to remember. “I think it was… You Can’t Take It With You. You were one of the leading roles, I think...”

Lauren grinned and did a little hop of happiness. “That’s right! One of my best performances of that show was in Tennessee!”

He chuckled. “It was a really good show.”

Another boy popped out in front of Skyler and Lauren. His hair was a dirty blond and was quite messy. He donned just a regular t-shirt and jeans, making him not seem out of place at all. At least, when it came to his clothing. He had a huge grin on his face, causing him to look much happier than any human should be capable of being.

“Hey there!” He said excitedly. “I’m Dylan, Ultimate Comedian!”

‘Well that explains it,’ Skyler thought.

“Hey, I’m-”

“Skyler, right? SHSL Luckster?”

“Y-yeah-”

“That’s awesome! Getting into this school though pure luck!”

Rather perturbed by the energy levels of this boy, Skyler just decided to leave this one alone. He didn’t seem like the type of person he preferred to hang around. He was just so… happy… It was almost unnatural.

  
Skyler then noticed the tall boy who was clearly more dressed up than anybody else in the room. He donned a white dress shirt, a black waistcoat, and black slacks, along with a navy blue tie and black dress shoes. The sleeves of the shirt were rolled up to his elbows, making the outfit seem much more casual than it really was. He had wide-rimmed black glasses on his thin face. The boy’s striking navy blue eyes were narrowed in an unamused fashion. Owen caught Skyler’s stare and spoke up.

“That’s Cecil Evans, the SHSL Artist. You ever heard of him?”

He nodded. “Yeah. I think an aunt of mine bought some of his work. It’s pretty good.”

“Yeah, I know right? The guy’s got some mad wicked art skills…”

“Well of course he does.” A new voice said. “If he didn’t, he wouldn’t be the SHSL Artist.”

The two boys turned to the source of the voice, only to see a girl closely resembling the famed Japanese model Junko Enoshima. That brought up something Skyler had found in his research of the other students. She was the SHSL Model, Angel Kasanoda. Her outfit and overall appearance was almost too close to Junko’s, down to the outfit and even hair color. However, instead of just a blue blazer, Angel had on a tight fitting and rather revealing tee shirt on and red heels that matched her plaid miniskirt. The outfit made her seem a lot taller than she actually was.

Skyler spoke up. “Um, you’re Angel Kasanoda, right?”

She flipped some of her wavy, strawberry blonde hair over her shoulder distastefully. “Duh. Oh course I am. Who the hell are you?”

  
Skyler began to get nervous around her. Not because of her beauty, though he had to admit she was beautiful, it was instead because of her intimidating demeanor.

“U-um,” He stuttered. “S-Skyler Miller…..SHSL Luckster…”

Angel laughed. “Hah! Like I give a damn. Now listen up, Luckster, you stay outta my way now. Capiche?”

“C-Capiche…”

With that said, she turned on her heel (quite literally) and walked away from the two. Owen gulped, in a similar state of intimidation that Skyler was in, and looked at his new friend.

“Well… She seems interesting…” he mumbled.

“Y-yeah…”

After a moment of silence, the two noticed a very short girl who looked like she wanted to talk to them. It was the black-blonde haired girl from earlier! Skyler walked over to her with Owen close behind with the intention of learning her name. The girl was rather shocked to see the two boys coming over to talk to her.

“C-c-can I help you?” She stuttered out nervously.

“Yeah. What’s your name?” Owen asked.

“A-A-Ashe...SHSL Cosmet-tologist…”  
  
The boys introduced themselves to Ashe, conversing with her for a short while before a sound was heard on the gym’s stage. The podium that rested on the black stage shook and soon after, a black and white stuffed bear jumped out and plopped down onto the podium.

Whatever chatter was still going on stopped at the appearance of the two toned bear toy. There was a small moment of silence before the bear began to speak, much to everyone’s surprise.

“Good morning!” It’s high pitched and almost whimsical voice said. “Welcome to Hope’s Peak Academy! I’m your principal, Monokuma!”

A wave of confusion washed over the fifteen students as they processed that the bear was talking to them. However, some got used to them much quicker than others.

“You have got to be kidding me.” Angel said, raising an eyebrow at the stuffed bear. “A toy is our principal?”

That got Monokuma mad. “I’m not a toy! I’m Monokuma!!” He yelled at Angel.

“H-h-how is this even possible…?” Ashe asked with a scared voice.

“Is it some sort of robot?” Owen asked.

“I’M NOT A ROBOT! I’M MONOKUMA, YOUR PRINCIPAL!!” The plush roared.

“What is it you want?” Juliet, SHSL Soldier, asked.

“What is it I want?” Monokuma repeated. “I wanna welcome you to your new lifestyle!”

“New lifestyle? Whaddya mean?” The SHSL Pyromaniac, Dante, asked. “You don’t think we’re living here, do ya?”

“In fact, I do! Because you are!” Monokuma cheerily replied.

Shock was apparent on everyone’s features. Some people shook their head in disbelief, while others just glared at the toy. However, no one was exactly willing to accept what Monokuma was proposing.

“Why are you doing this?” The SHSL Gamer, Alex, asked in a timid voice.

“Why?” Monokuma asked. “For my own enjoyment, I guess.”

“How do we get out?” Cecil asked coldly. “Surely there’s a way to leave this place.”

“Upupupupu!” Monokuma made a strange laughing noise. “The way to get outta here is to kill each other.”

Silence filled the room after he said that. Looks of horror were on almost everyone’s faces. Almost. Cecil seemed to look...amused, almost? Skyler was confused over what he would find amusing about murder. Then again, he WAS an artist after all, and artists tend to have odd ways of thinking. Regardless, he still should have SOME sort of reaction to being forced to commit murder.

“What do you mean, we have to kill someone?!” Ian, the SHSL Dancer, cried out at Monokuma.

“I mean exactly what I said. Kill each other!”

Cecil shook his head. “That’s too vague. What do you mean by “kill each other”?”

“Upupu...To escape from this academy, you have to murder someone. Doesn’t matter how ya do it, someone just needs to die because of you. Any murder method accepted here! Thing is, you can’t be caught doing it. Telling you to just kill someone would be too easy!”

“That’s not all, is it?” The SHSL Poet, Rose, asked calmly.

Monokuma nodded. “Yup! You’re right girlie. After killing someone, an investigation and Class Trial will be held to figure out who the culprit is! If you guess correctly, then the villain will be punished. If you kids can’t figure it out...upupupu…”

“What happens if we can’t figure it out.” Cecil asked, although it sounded more like a statement than a question.

“Everyone except for the murderer gets punished and the murderer runs free!”


	2. Part Two: No Escape for the Damned

**Part Two: No Escape for the Damned**   
**ASHE**

 

  
The SHSL Cosmetologist trembled at Monokuma’s words.

Kill someone? The only way to get out was to kill someone?! That’s ridiculous! She thought. There has to be some other way to get out!

“There is one other thing you guys should know.” Monokuma said, interrupting her thoughts. “You might’ve noticed by now, but your phones are all gone!”

Everyone checked themselves for the devices, only to prove his statement true.

“Upupu. There really was no point checking just then, I’d never lie to you guys!”

“What was the point in telling us this?” Raven, SHSL Archer, asked.

“I was getting to that, slow down!” Monokuma yelled. “Ahem. However, instead of phones, you all get your very own ElectroIDs! When activated, it displays your real name, so there won’t be any mistaking your iDs!”

Monokuma pointed to a box on the floor in front of the stage. “Come on up and get it!”

Slowly but surely, everyone’s ElectroIDs were distributed out. Ashe pushed a shaky finger onto a button on the side of the small device that activated the screen. It looked very much like a regular smartphone with the Hope’s Peak logo on the back. The opening screen was blue and displayed her name in bold white letters.

‘ASHE LANDIS, SHSL COSMETOLOGIST’

“Now don’t you go losing these!” Monokuma continued. “These babies are the only way you guys can get into your rooms.”

While she found the ElectroID in her hand exciting, Ashe still trembled almost violently in fear of the only mean of escape. Owen noticed her trembling and put a reassuring arm over her shoulder, causing her to flinch at first before she realized what he was doing. She looked up at the scientist gratefully. He had a slight flush on his face, but he smiled down at her nonetheless. It was a tad bit comforting to the frightened stylist.

Monokuma talked for a little while longer before exiting and leaving the fifteen students to their thoughts. All of this was difficult for everyone to comprehend. As far as she knew, no one here was willing to commit murder! Well… that soldier girl seemed rather suspicious… Who’s to say she hasn’t already killed people?

‘No!’ She thought, shaking her head slightly. ‘I can’t think like that! I have to try and have faith in everyone!’

However, despite her efforts to keep calm and positive about the situation, a seed of doubt had already planted itself in her mind. She hesitantly stared around the room at the other students, terrified that one of them would kill soon. There was a looming feeling of anxiety hovering over her, and the friendly arm around her shoulders didn’t seem all that friendly to her anymore. However, she was also too frightened to tell him to stop, so she remained silent. Silence filled the air until it was broken by a contemplating Dante.

“Kill each other?” He wondered aloud. “He can’t be serious. There’s no chance any of us’d do that.”

“I wouldn’t go around making claims like that.” Cecil said coldly to the Pyromaniac.

“The hell’s that supposed ta mean?!”

Cecil eyed the fiery teen up and down before looking at him condescendingly. “Like you of all people would know. Someone could already be planning murder. I mean, it wouldn’t be very well done, but someone in this room could very well be picking out their target.”

That caused the poor SHSL Cosmetologist to yelp, tremble further, and cling onto the Scientist’s side. Owen patted her shoulder comfortingly, though it didn’t do much to help her. Cecil chuckled at this.

“Yes, there is definitely someone here desperate enough to be plotting their kill already,” He said, pointlessly trying to scare the girl. “They could be targeting anyone. Even you-”

“That’s enough!” Dante and Lauren shouted at the SHSL Artist in unison.

Cecil’s expression displayed shock; he obviously wasn’t expecting that reaction. Ashe herself had begun to cry, clinging tightly to Owen as he rubbed soothing circles on her back. Lauren, with a determined face, patted Ashe’s shoulder and glared daggers at Cecil. The Artist had recovered from the shock of the outburst and was returning Lauren and Dante’s glares.

“Hmph.” He said. “Well, there’s no point in standing around all day. I’m off to explore this death school.” With that said, he turned on his heel and left the gymnasium.

Skyler, who still stood next to Owen and Ashe, looked at the smaller woman for a moment before turning to Owen. “You guys wanna go explore with me?”

  
Owen nodded. “It’d be wise for us to know where everything is around here.”

Ashe peeked up at him. “T-t-that’d b-be smart…”

“I think we all should investigate and then meet back up to discuss what we’ve found.” Juliet said in her monotone voice.

Everyone nodded in agreement, deciding to meet back up at the cafeteria in an hour.

The group of three had all turned and left through the same door that the Artist had used earlier. Ashe, while she had let go of Owen’s torso, still held onto his hand for comfort, to which he didn’t mind. Well, he hadn’t made any protest to it. The other students trailed after them out of the door of the gymnasium, each going off in small groups to investigate. Everyone split up to investigate.

Owen, Ashe, and Skyler went down a long, red hallway with cream colored doors lining both sides of the hall. Upon closer inspection, each door had an 8-bit cartoon of each person and their name displayed on the door. There was an intercom system next to each door that the three of them tested out on their own rooms. Ashe unlocked her room with her ElectroID and walked inside, taking in the appearance of the bedroom.

It had magenta-pink walls, with a dark blue carpet. A made bed with pastel pink sheets rested in the middle of the room, and a desk and chair rested behind it. There was a small, round table sat in front of the bed, and there was a bookshelf filled to the brim with cosmetology textbooks. There were a few styrofoam wig heads with long, artificially colored wigs resting on them. There were several sets of cosmetology tools in a drawer of the desk, and a sewing kit in another. There was also a note from Monokuma:

_‘Here’s a small sewing kit with a diagram of all human pressure points. Good luck ladies._   
_-Monokuma’_

As the note said, there was a small diagram with a human underneath the kit. It had red dots displaying where the pressure points on a human were located. Swallowing hard, Ashe set the note and diagram down and shut the drawer, choosing to leave the room and wait out in the hallway for the other two boys.

As it turned out, Ashe’s room was in the middle of Skyler and Dante, and across from Alex, Lauren, and Raven. Owen was a lot farther down the hall, which made her kind of sad, but it wasn’t a huge deal. They would still see each other daily, which was a plus. It was nice that she had found someone she could possibly call a “friend” in this despair school. However, she was still wary, deciding not to fully trust him until he had proven himself trustworthy.

Her thoughts were interrupted as Monokuma appeared in front of her, causing her to shriek.

“Oh shut it, you’re hurting my ears.” Monokuma said, rubbing one of his ears for effect.

“W-w-w-what do you w-want?!” Ashe stuttered at the plush toy.

“I’m here to explain how these babies work!” He pointed at the intercom system. “These are an extra defense mechanism against unwanted people entering your room. As you guys discovered, your ElectroIDs do open these, but there is another way to open these doors.”

“Another way?” She questioned.

“Yuppers! Each door is equipped with a password mechanism on the door. Were someone to use the incorrect ElectroID on this machine, a keypad and box would appear on the screen for someone to type in the password. As of right now, the passwords are your SHSL titles, but there’s a monitor inside your room that’ll allow you to change it. You got all that?”

Ashe nodded, still shaking out of fear of the bear, and Monokuma disappeared. Right after that, Skyler and Owen emerged from their rooms and walked over to her. They immediately noticed how badly she was trembling and questioned it.

“M-Monokuma came by…” she said.

“What’d he want?” Skyler asked.

“H-he explained h-how the doors work…”

“Ah.” Owen said, patting her shoulder. “Well, he’s gone now, so you’ll be okay.”

Ashe nodded, giving the boys a miniscule smile. The group experimented with the doors again after Ashe explained what Monokuma had said. They found that he was correct in saying that there was a password, and since they tried it out on Ashe’s door, they used her SHSL title of ‘COSMETOLOGIST’. When the room unlocked, all three looked at each other in wonder and fear.

“We’ll definitely have to change the passwords…” Owen said offhandedly.

“Yeah…” Skyler agreed.

Eventually, Owen glanced down at the wristwatch he wore and looked at his companions. “It’s time to head back to the cafeteria. Let’s go?”

Skyler and Ashe agreed and the group of three moved to the cafeteria located a few rooms away from the end of the dormitory hallway. They walked in cautiously, and they were greeted by the sight of everyone gathered in the cafeteria, seemingly waiting for them. Cecil casted a glance in their direction at the sound of the door opening and huffed at them.

“You’re late.” He said in a bored voice.

“Artist, pay them no mind.” The SHSL Swordsman said in a thick German accent. “They were only late by a few minutes.”

“Tch, they still kept us all waiting.”

“ANYWAYS,” Lauren said, catching everyone’s attention. “Let’s report what we found. I’ll go first, if that’s alright?”

Nearly everyone nodded and she continued.

“I looked around the entrance hall again. There’s huge iron plates covering the windows and a giant metal door blocking the exit.”

“There’s also a few posters up near the entrance.” Ian continued. It seems they had gone off together. “They advertise things the Hope’s Peak had to offer. I also didn’t see anyone else other than the fifteen of us.”

“I highly doubt that there is anyone else here.” Rose mentioned. “If there was, they would have made themselves known by now.”

“But what about that Monokuma?” Angel asked. “Shouldn’t there be like, someone controlling him?”

“There most likely is, but there’s no way of telling if they’re here or not.” said Raven.

“Why do you say that?” Cecil asked curiously.

“There are security cameras and microphones all throughout the building. They don’t have any blind spots. That means that whoever is controlling Monokuma could be far away from here and controlling him and us from there.”

“K-kinda like a P-Puppetmaster.” said Ashe shyly.

“Exactly like a Puppetmaster.” said Dante in an irritated tone. “What the hell is all this? Security cameras, Puppetmaster, killin’ each other?! What kinda sick joke is this?!”

“Sadly, I don’t think this is a joke.” Alex said. “I mean, it seems to elaborate to be anything but legit…” He added in shyly.

“Yeah…” Skyler said, bringing his fist to his chin in thought.

“I’ll go next I guess.” Owen said, starting to talk after a brief moment of silence. “We investigated the dorms. There are doors with each of our names on them indicating whose room is whose. There’s an intercom system next to each door that you unlock with your ElectroID. However, Monokuma came and talked to us while we were investigating.”

“What’d he say?” Lauren asked.

“I was getting to that. If you use the wrong ElectroID when unlocking it, there will be a screen where you can type in the room’s password. We have to set those up independently, but for right now, the passwords are out SHSL titles. We tried this out on our rooms, and it turns out that Monokuma was serious about this.”  
The discussion went on for a while longer before everyone went off to explore the other areas of the school.


	3. Part Three: The Videos

**Part Three: The Videos**   
**ROSE**

  
The next few days had passed slowly for the SHSL Poet. There had been several notepads and a plethora of writing utensils located in her room, so she had plenty of resources at her disposal. Even though she usually struggled with inspiration for her poetry, the despair-filled scenario she found herself in gave her all the inspiration she would ever need. As of her third day, she had already filled half of a notepad with words that flowed rhythmically together.

Something rather peculiar had happened in her first four days at the academy. During the free time that they almost always had now, Cecil had sought a conversation with the Poet. It had been the second day, and Rose had been in one of the classrooms with the door left open. She had been in the middle of a sentence when the SHSL Artist paid her an unexpected visit.

“Hey, Poet,” He had greeted ever so charmingly. “I need to ask something of you.”

“The prince asking a mere peasant for help?” Rose had questioned sarcastically. “Whatever could you want of me?” Her voice was exaggerated beyond belief, causing the Artist to scoff.

“I want to know how it is that even in the scenario we’re in, you’ve managed to write as much as you have? I mean, that’s all I’ve ever seen you do since the entrance ceremony.”

“That would be like asking you why you create art after a life changing event.” said Rose as she looked back down at her current poem. She was almost astonished that he had come in here just to ask that ridiculous question.

Cecil scoffed again, though quieter this time. “Touche. But regardless, how have you not been affected by Monokuma’s claims?”

“What claims?” She said, antagonizing the boy.

“His claims that the only way to escape this place is by murder.”

Chuckling, she looked up from her piece and at the Artist. “I haven’t been affected because I simply haven’t paid it any mind. There’s no way he could be serious about that. It seems too far fetched.”

“Hmm…” Cecil thought about her response for a moment. “But have you considered that he might be serious?”

“I have.”

“And?”

  
“And what? That’s all there is to it.” Rose quirked an eyebrow. “Or do you believe otherwise?”

Shaking his head, Cecil crossed his arms. “I do. The others have clearly been affected by this, that was clear by that one shorter girl crying after Monokuma’s statement. There has to be some reason that neither of us have.”

“Artist’s intuition, perhaps?” she suggested. “I mean, I’m positive both of us have created sick, twisted things in our artistic careers. It wouldn’t be too far fetched.”

“Besides,” Cecil added in. “We seem to be the most intelligent ones here. That could lead to it.”

Rose shook her head. “Keep in mind the fact that we have both a SHSL Scientist and a SHSL Academic. They could easily outsmart us. Remember what you said? ‘Don’t go around making claims like that’.”

“Tch. Don’t use my own words against me.”

“I wouldn’t count on me doing that anytime soon. After all, I am a writer, as you are an artist.”

Cecil smirked at her. “You are correct there. I’m glad to see you know our titles.”

“Oh hush, you.” There was a brief moment of silence before she spoke up again. “Is there anything else you need?”

“Yes, actually. I wanted you to help me keep an eye on that Skyler boy.”

“And why is that?”

“I’ve a hunch that he’ll be the first person to kill. I’m not entirely sure what it is, but the feeling still remains.”

“Why’s that? Skyler is perfectly delightful if you ask me. He wouldn’t hurt a fly. What makes you think he can kill someone?”

“Again, I’m not sure what it is about him. I just don’t trust him.”

He then abruptly turned towards the door. “Well, that is all I needed to know. Goodbye.” The Artist then left, leaving the poet alone to her thoughts in the oddly colored classroom.

“Artists…” She grumbled to herself. “Always poking their noses in where they shouldn’t be…”

After dwelling on the odd conversation for a moment before returning to her work, Rose decided that she would not only watch Skyler closely, but Cecil as well. He just seemed too suspicious to her.

 

 

The next morning, after hearing Monokuma’s morning announcement, Rose calmly walked into the cafeteria, where several students had already gathered for breakfast. On the second day, everyone had agreed to meet there in the mornings to dine together, thinking that it would help everyone adapt to the new environment. So far, it had managed to help a few of the trapped students become more comfortable in their environment, such as Ashe and Dylan. However, most of the other students were still skeptical and untrusting towards everyone.

Upon first entering the cafeteria, Rose noticed Skyler, Owen, and Ashe sitting at a long table and talking with each other. They seemed very engaged in the conversation they were having. Alex sat on the other end of the table with a PSP in his hand, and he was completely absorbed in the game being displayed on the screen. Rose had expected as much from a SHSL Gamer. Joe, SHSL Academic, sat across from him, trying in vain to pull Alex from his game. It was very amusing to watch.

Rose took a seat next to Skyler and said a quick “Hello” as the group greeted her. Trying to include her in a conversation, they turned to her and asked her what she thought of their current situation.

“What do I think of it?” She repeated. “I think it’s ridiculous. There is no way that this is real.”

“Yeah,” Owen said hesitantly. “But think about this: that Monokuma thing seems almost too real. And it seems like he’s dead serious about this “murder each other” thing.”

“You do make a good point.” said Skyler. “But that also brings up another point: is anyone gonna kill?”

“H-hopefully not…” Ashe mumbled, causing Owen to pat her hand comfortingly.

Rose, catching the action, began thinking about the two of them. It was obvious that something was going on between them, but she wasn’t entirely sure what it was. It could very well just be friendship, but there was also the factor that they blushed almost too much around each other. Skyler seemed to be oblivious of it all, unsurprisingly. However, what mattered most is that they were able to find some light in the darkness of the despair-school. It was quite the refreshing sight.

About twenty minutes later, the rest of the students had gathered in the cafeteria and were waiting to begin eating because of a supposedly important announcement Raven had.

“Comrades,” She began. “I have found something possibly beneficial to us.”

“What is it?” Skyler asked her.

“There was a box of DVDs located in the A/V room. Each disk has our names on it. I am uncertain as to what’s on these DVDs, but they could provide something valuable.”

“I’d be cautious about those.” Cecil said. “You never know what could be on those.”

“I think we should watch them,” Rose suggested. “It wouldn’t hurt to find out.”

“Damn straight!” Monokuma said, appearing at the end of the table and frightening the students.

“M-M-Monokum-ma…!!” Ashe shrieked.

“Would you quit it with the screaming already?!” The bear yelled at the terrified Cosmetologist. “I’ve had it with you stupid screams!”

“What is it you want?” Cecil demanded.

“Since you guys were talking about those DVDs, I figured I’d tell you what they are!”

“What they are? Explain.” Juliet said.

“Those DVDs are you guys’ first motive!”

There was a brief moment of confused silence.

“Motive…?” Joe hesitantly asked. “A-as in, murder motive?!”

“You got is, smartass! This is boring as hell! You guys are all still alive! We need to get some murder all up in here!!”

Monokuma laughed and left, leaving everyone to contemplate their options. It would be smart to avoid it entirely, but then again, it might also be beneficial. Besides, the curiosity was eating at Rose, and she was just dying to know what was on that DVD that he thought could motivate her to commit murder.

The group briefly discussed it before hesitantly walking to the A/V room. Anxiety filled the air as they pushed open the wooden door and took their designated DVD. Rose sat in front of one of the screens and slid the disk into the slot. Watching as she placed the large headphones over her ears, she saw an image of her mother sitting on the small couch in their living room. The older African American lady stared at the camera with a look of pride in her eyes.

“Baby girl,” She said. “I’m so proud of you for gettin’ into this school. I know for a fact that you’re gonna succeed here. Hope’s Peak’ll be good for ya. I love you very much, baby Rose. Make your momma here proud.”

Heart touched by her mother’s words, Rose smiled at the screen. However, that smile was soon wiped away as the image blurred and soon became the darker image of the couch and living room torn to shreds. Pictures and furniture were knocked around and broken, and there were slash marks and broken glass embedded in the walls. Her mother was nowhere in sight.

The screen soon faded out of the image and the following words appeared in the screen in bright pink letters:

_‘WANNA KNOW WHAT HAPPENED TO YOUR FAMILY? FIND OUT AFTER GRADUATION!’_

Rose could only assume that “graduation” was what happened after you killed someone. Hands trembling violently, she removed the headphones and stared at the screen in terror. What had they done to her mother? To her home? The only way to find out was by killing someone, and as tempting as it was at the time, Rose clung onto the thought that it wouldn’t be what her mother would want of her.

As other people’s videos ended, they shrieked and threw off the headphones, staring at the screens in fear. Apparently they had seen the same thing, except with their own families. The giant projector at the front of the room displayed an image of a laughing Monokuma. Slowly but surely, everyone sulkingly left the A/V room, praying that the videos had been fakes. However, some of them had the looming suspicion that the videos had been real and that their families were dead.

Despair was evident on almost everyone’s faces as they returned to their rooms, wanting nothing more than to lay down and rest. Or at least, attempt to rest after seeing those haunting images. They all eventually fell asleep, hoping and praying that no one would die after that.

 

  
The rest of the day was very quiet, and it seemed to drag on forever. Rose had tried to write something, thinking it would help, but her thoughts would always return to the image of her destroyed living room. It plagued her restlessly, causing whatever inspiration she had had before to disappear entirely.

Eventually, she gave up on it and chose to lay on her bed. Her floor length black skirt flowed out as she fell back onto the bed and stared at her ceiling. Her thoughts returned to her mother, except now they were good memories rather than bad ones. She remembered the way her mother would smile whenever Rose would show her a new piece. The prideful look on her face seemingly made it all worth it. She recalled the way her mother would tell her stories of herself and Rose’s father. The way she spoke about that man showed Rose what true love looked like, and it only helped her in the realm of fiction.

A fond memory she held onto was when she was around six years old and a few children were making fun of her at school for being black. Her mother had told her that she was beautiful no matter what they said and that their choices had serious consequences. She had asked the young Rose who it was that tormented her so. After learning which boys the bullies were, her mother had contacted their parents and told them what had happened, causing the boys to get in serious trouble in multiple places. It was a good memory for Rose to look back on, for it really showed the different sides of her mother’s personality.

At some point, Rose had drifted off to sleep, still thinking of her mother.

However, when she woke up, it was not to Monokuma’s morning announcement.

_‘DING DONG DING DONG! A BODY HAS BEEN DISCOVERED.’_


	4. Part Four: The First Trial (Pt. 1)

**Part Four: The First Trial (Pt.1)**   
**ALEX**

  
The morning had been relatively average for Alex. Nothing too out of the ordinary stood out to him. Well, there was one exception. Joe, that SHSL Academic that Alex had accidentally befriended, hadn’t come to bug him yet. It was odd, seeing as he had done it every single morning until then. However, Alex thought nothing of it, choosing instead to relish in the peace and quiet he finally had.

Pulling out his PSP and sitting at his normal spot in the cafeteria, he then realized something else odd. No one else was in the cafeteria. Normally at this time, Ashe, Owen, and Skyler would be sitting at their usual corner of the long table, but for some reason they weren’t there today. He then glanced at the clock and realized that he was there twenty minutes early. He chuckled, that would explain why he didn’t hear Monokuma’s morning announcement. That would also explain why Joe had not appeared yet.

The next twenty minutes passed much slower than Alex would have liked, and when people finally began to flood into the cafeteria, he still didn’t see Joe. It was becoming concerning to the Gamer, seeing as Joe always got up early to bug him. As much as he hated the annoyance, Alex had to admit that the Academic was one of the few friends he had in this academy, and this happening was quite worrisome for him.

Skyler and Owen took their usual seats at the long table, but Ashe was not with them. Maybe she slept in? The SHSL Poet wasn't with them either, though that was a usual thing for her. She seemed to like being alone.

‘Is everyone okay?’ He thought to himself. ‘I seriously hope nothing happened… Joe did seem kinda off yesterday after those videos… ‘

The thought of the videos Monokuma had shown everyone caused his concern to deepen. Joe had been quite shaken up, much like the rest of the group, but Joe was a different case. His body had been violently trembling and he had paled significantly. Sweat had run down the side of his face, and it looked like he was on the verge of a breakdown. Alex had only assumed that he had been shown something similar to what he had seen.

_After sitting down and placing the headphones on his head, the screen remained black for a moment before the image changed to his old school’s gaming club. All of his friends stood and sat around an average sized, wooden table and were smiling at the camera._

_“Great job on getting into Hope’s Peak!” His friend Drake had said. “I told you those tournaments would pay off someday.”_

_A majority of the people there were grinning like idiots, extremely proud that Alex was going to such an elite school._

_“Break a leg, buddy,” Jacob, who stood over most of the club, said. “We’re routin’ for ya.”_

_Some of the other members said some more inspirational messages for Alex before the screen cut to black again for a split second. When the image returned, it showed the library that they had previously stood in torn to shreds, with the tables overturned and broken and the chairs shattered. Random books were scattered across the blue carpet._

_However, the most horrifying aspect of it all was that his club members were spread out, unconscious and limp, on the library floor. Alex couldn’t even tell if they were alive anymore. Their eyes were closed, and there were faint signs of blood underneath their bodies. None of them moved, not even an inch. Alex trembled in his seat, and he was tempted to scream at the sight, but he held it in. Soon, the image faded away and the following words appeared in neon pink letters that were hard on his eyes:_

_‘WANNA FIND OUT WHAT HAPPENED TO THEM? FIND OUT AFTER GRADUATION!’_

Shuddering at the memory, Alex glanced around at the gathered students, looking for his friend. He was nowhere in sight, despite every other student being present. Wait a minute...Ashe wasn’t there either. Were they okay?

It seemed that Skyler and Owen also noticed the absence of their friend. Alex stood up, tucking his PSP back in his back pocket, and walked over to the two.

“You guys wanna go check on them?” he asked.

“Them?” Owen questioned. “Who else is missing?”

“Well, I don’t see Joe or Rose anywhere…” mumbled Skyler. “He’s probably talking about them.”

Owen nodded and the two stood, following Alex to the dormitory hallway. They decided to check Joe first, seeing as his room was the first place they stopped. Alex rung the doorbell and knocked on the door a few times, calling Joe’s name. After a moment of silence, Joe tiredly opened the door, looking at the trio groggily.

“Can I help you?” He asked lazily.

“We just wanted to make sure you were okay.” Skyler said. “You weren’t at breakfast.”

  
“Wait, I slept through breakfast?!”

Alex nodded. “I got worried when I didn’t hear your usual morning yelling.”

Joe chuckled. “I’ll head down to the cafeteria in a minute. Go on ahead.”

Alex and Owen nodded and they shut the door, turning to Ashe’s room. However, upon further inspection of the door, it was open just enough for them to push it open. Owen, Skyler, and Alex exchanged anxious glances.

“Why’s her room door open?” Owen asked. “She’s usually really uptight with locking her door...She’s terrified if it’s ever left open.” The panic was beginning to rise in his voice.

After a brief moment of hesitation, the boys pushed open the door and stepped into the dark room. Alex stopped dead in his tracks when he felt something sticky under his shoe. Lifting up his shoe, he noticed a bright pink liquid staining the bottom of his foot. Owen flickered on the light switch, and screamed in horror upon seeing the corpse lying on the floor of the bedroom.

Ashe laid face down on the once blue carpet, a sizable pool of blood spilling out from underneath her. A kitchen knife protruded from her back, causing a fatal wound that most likely killed her. Her eyes were wide open in fear, and there were tear stains on her bloodied face. Blood stained her hair and the tattered dress she wore, along with the carpet underneath her. Though they weren’t very prominent, Alex also noticed bruises on Ashe’s arms and neck, showing him that she had fought before going down.

After a moment, Owen stopped screaming and Monokuma made another announcement.

_‘DING DONG DING DONG! A BODY HAS BEEN FOUND. PLEASE REPORT TO THE GYMNASIUM AT ONCE!’_

The horrified trio slowly walked to the gym with wide, fear filled eyes. Upon entering, the other students noticed their looks of terror and interrogated.

“What happened, guys?!” Lauren asked worriedly. “Are you okay?!”

“A-Ashe is…” Owen couldn’t finish his sentence, but Lauren still figured out what he meant based on the announcement. She patted his shoulder comfortingly.

“So the Cosmetologist is dead?” Cecil muttered, trying to comprehend the fact that there was in fact a dead body in the school.

Alex shakily nodded, having seen Ashe’s bloodied corpse with his own eyes. Nodding solemnly, Cecil crossed his arms and held a fist to his chin in thought.

A few moments later, Monokuma appeared on the stage, seemingly quite pleased with himself. Dante glared at the stuffed bear.

“Whaddya want now?!” He yelled. “Someone’s already dead!”

“I know that,” Monokuma said in his whimsically terrifying voice. “That’s why I called you here! There’s more to it than just killing someone, ya know.”

“Wait, really?” questioned Link. “What else is there?”

“I’m getting to that, slow down there! After a body has been found, we hold an investigation and a Class Trial to find out which one of you guys is the culprit!”

“One of us is the culprit?” Juliet asked, oddly calm about this all.

“Yupperoo! I’m not participating in this academic coliseum, so it couldn’t have been me.”

“Tell me more about the investigation and Class Trial.” Rose asked, also too calm about the scenario.

“It’s pretty simple, so listen up. I’m sending you untrained kids in to investigate the murder! After a couple hours, we hold the class trial and you guys have to figure out who the culprit is. If you guess correctly, the murderer gets executed. If you guys guess it wrong, then everyone else gets executed and the murderer graduates!”

There was a moment of silence as everyone processed the new information. Alex was especially confused.

‘Murder investigations?’ He thought. ‘It’s bad enough that Ashe is dead, but now we have to investigate how she was killed?! This is so messed up...’

He sighed through his nose, frustrated with the situation. Was Ashe not going to get any peace? She was murdered while trapped inside a school with fourteen people he had never met! Now they had to investigate her body and the scene of her death? Alex felt horrible that the young girl had been killed so quickly. She was completely innocent from what he saw of her. Always quiet, always paying attention, never getting in anyone’s way. Not to mention the fact that she was perfectly delightful, and she would never attack anyone. So why did she have to be the first to die? What had happened that led to her death.

“What…?” A few people in the crowd of students asked.

“So you’re saying it’s either guess or death?” Rose asked.

“Pretty much.” Monokuma replied, shrugging his tiny, two-toned shoulders.

Cecil nodded. “As morbid as this is, it’s a rather simple concept.”

“Oh! One more thing!” The bear said. “On your ElectoIDs is a copy of what will soon become your best friend, the Monokuma Files! It’s an autopsy report since I’m certain none of you know how to do those.”

Rose pulled out her ElectroID and powered it up, glancing at the file. “He’s telling the truth. But what is this “evidence” section for?”

  
“It’s a place for you to store your evidence during the investigation! It can even take pictures to present during the Class Trial!”

“Monokuma, how long do we have to investigate?” Raven asked.

  
“Three hours. Better use your time wisely! Upupupu!” He laughed as he left, leaving the students to their investigation.

“Well, it would be smart to heed his advice for once.” The Artist said as he turned and left, beginning to head out.

Alex, after a moment of hesitation, pulled out his ElectroID and pulled up the Monokuma File, reading it over. It said where the crime took place, Ashe’s room, and the cause of death, a kitchen knife through the back. It supposedly pierced her heart and killed her almost instantaneously. The crime took place around 10:30 PM last night. There are signs of struggle around the room, which Alex thought odd to read. Were there signs of struggle? Then again, that would explain the bruises on Ashe.

Making up his mind, he turned and walked to the scene of the crime. The door was already open, and Cecil was crouched in front of Ashe’s body, balancing on the fronts of his feet to avoid getting blood on himself. He turned his head slightly upon hearing someone enter, and turned back after identifying that it was just Alex.

“Gamer, come here and look at this.” Cecil ordered, holding up Ashe’s cold arm.

Alex hesitantly obeyed. “What is it?”

Cecil pointed to the bruises and bits of blood underneath her fingernails. “Signs of struggle, wouldn’t you agree?”

“Yeah. There are some bruises on her neck, too…” Alex mumbled, not quite happy to be touching and examining the body of his dead acquaintance. However, he toughened up, figuring that this could bring her killer to justice.

Upon closer inspection, he noticed that the bruises on her neck were shaped vaguely like a handprint, showing that she had been strangled by the culprit.

_‘ITEM: SIGNS OF STRUGGLE : HAS BEEN ADDED TO EVIDENCE.’_

Cecil turned his attention away from the body, having noticed the handprint a moment ago, and he looked at the carpet closely, pushing his glasses up. Alex followed his gaze, trying to figure out what it was he was staring at. Then, the Artist picked up a single strand of hair.

“Hair?” Alex questioned. “Why would that be important?”

“You’re a gamer, don’t you live for a good story?” Cecil held up the hair to where the Gamer could see. “The fact that this piece of evidence remains here means that the culprit was lazy...or rushed. This murder was not done very well.”

“You mean that you know what a good murder looks like?!”

“I’m an artist, of course I do, and stop that screaming. This also means that there should be some crucial bits of evidence proving who the killer is. It has to be around here somewhere…”

_‘ITEM: HAIR : HAS BEEN ADDED TO EVIDENCE.’_

Cecil stood, and briefly looked at the slash marks on the walls. “A struggle ensued. This really was poorly done…”

Alex looked around the room, trying to find any evidence for himself, when he remembered that he had seen something earlier. However, it was very small, so he wasn’t entirely sure if it was anything… Something out in the hallway…

He stood and walked out into the hallway, searching along the sides of the floor. Cecil, curious as to what he was doing, went out after him.

“What is it?”

“I thought I saw something here earlier… Figured that I’d look for it…”

“What did you see?” Cecil said, kneeling down and looking as well. “Also, what did it look like?”

  
“I don’t know, but it was a little white ball…”

They searched for a few minutes before Alex grinned and picked up the small, white clump that he had seen earlier. Upon picking it up, he noted that it was a crumpled up piece of paper. Cecil watched as Alex unfolded it and looked over the contents of it. It was a note that read:

_‘Please come by my room tonight._   
_I want your help looking over a chemistry textbook left in my room._   
_If you can come, stop by my room after Night Time, 10:30 would work._   
_The password is ‘warsaw’._   
_Please come alone._   
_-Ashe’_

  
“A note summoning someone to her room?” Cecil questioned, looking over the note again. “That explains a lot about this case… Here, I need to check something.”

He abruptly stood and walked back into the room, stepping over the pool of Ashe’s blood and her body. Approaching her desk, he pulled out a pencil from his pocket and picked up the blank notepad on her desk. Alex followed behind him and watched as Cecil ran the pencil over the entire page, revealing an imprint on the page. It perfectly mirrored the crumpled note from the hallway.

“This confirms it. The note truly was written by Ashe,” Cecil said solemnly.

_‘ITEM: NOTE : HAS BEEN ADDED TO EVIDENCE.’_

“Gamer, come with me. You’ll be my assistant during this investigation.”

“I have a name you know... “ Alex muttered.

“I know and don’t particularly care.”

  
“Okay…”

The two left the room, searching for the evidence that would figure out who the killer was. First the two headed towards the kitchen to see for sure if the knife impaled in Ashe’s back was truly was from there. While it seemed more than obvious to Alex, Cecil was positive that it was necessary to check for absolute certainty. Alex seriously did NOT understand that guy. They quickly confirmed it and were on the way back to the scene of the crime before Cecil abruptly stopped, causing Alex to bump into him accidentally.

“What is it?” the SHSL Gamer asked.

“The laundry room. There’s something off about it…” He muttered. “Let’s check it out really fast. We don’t have much more time before the trial.”

“Alright?” Alex asked, trailing after Cecil as he entered the laundry room. No one else was in there, which Cecil seemed pleased with.   
Alex was beginning to get scared of this guy.

Soon, the SHSL Artist began rummaging through the largest pile of laundry, confusing Alex even further. He considered asking the Artist what he was doing, but he decided against it, seeing as Cecil liked to befuddle him for fun. This went on for a few minutes before Cecil held up a white dress shirt and a pair of jeans. However, there was something odd about them. Approaching Cecil, Alex saw that the clothes were bloodstained.

“W-What the hell?!”

“Shush with the screaming!” Cecil yelled, adjusting his glasses. “These are the culprit’s clothes. That means that whoever killed the Cosmetologist was wearing these.”

_'ITEM: BLOODIED CLOTHES: HAS BEEN ADDED TO EVIDENCE.'_

Just after he had said that, Monokuma made another announcement. “Attention everyone! The Class Trial is gonna start soon! Please report to the elevator behind the red door near the Gym.”

Cecil stood with a confident smile on his face. “Well, shall we be off?”

“Sure…” Alex mumbled nervously as the two began to walk to the elevator.

Along the way, he tried to think of who wore a white dress shirt and jeans. It wasn’t Cecil for sure, he always wears dress pants. Dylan also wore a dress shirt over his t-shirt and jeans, but it didn’t seem like he could kill anyone. Joe wore those two, but there’s no way he would do anything like that. He was too nice of a guy to kill anybody here.

He shook his head in confusion as he stepped into the elevator that began lowering itself down to the fated Courtroom and the dreaded Class Trial.


	5. Part Five: The End of a Friendship (First Trial Pt. 2)

**Part Five: The End of a Friendship (The First Trial Pt.2)**   
**LAUREN**

  
The elevator ride was quite smooth, despite the run-down appearance of the elevator’s interior. As it descended down to the courtroom, Lauren tapped her fingers against her crossed arm anxiously, desperately hoping that things would go well during the trial. Hope was what she clung onto, not wanting to give into the despair that Monokuma was so desperate to spread. At least, that is what she told herself. It was rather overdramatic; then again, she was SHSL Performer for a reason.

She glanced at Dante, watching his reactions. He seemed tense, and pretty nervous. Then again, nearly everyone did. Everyone except that Cecil boy… and the Rose one. They seemed oddly calm about everything that had happened so far. Artist’s intuition, maybe?

Looking back down at the floor and sighing out, she unintentionally caught Dante’s attention. He glanced at her briefly before stiffly approaching her and patting her shoulder. The two met eyes for a short moment before flushing and looking away, Dante’s hand still on her shoulder. However, neither seemed to mind, so they left it be.

A few moments later, the elevator doors opened to reveal the courtroom. It was a large, circularly shaped room with sixteen witness stands arranged in a circle in the middle of the room. Directly across from the door sat a golden throne that Monokuma sat in, seemingly excited for the trial. There were red carpets leading out from behind the witness stands, and the floors were tiled in a black and white checkered pattern.

“Alright everyone!” Monokuma said cheerfully. “Find the stand with your name on it and let’s get this party started!”

Everyone took their seats and then the trial began.

“Alright, let’s start with the murder weapon.” Rose began. “It was a kitchen knife, correct?”

“Yes. Alex and I confirmed it; there’s a knife missing in the kitchen.” Cecil said.

“But how did she die exactly?” Dylan questioned. “The knife was there, but it was probably the bruises that killed her.”

“No, you’re wrong.” Rose intervened.

“Rose is right,” Skyler said. “The knife was definitely the cause of death. There’s no doubt about it.”

“But what about those bruises?” Joe questioned from across the circle. “They were around her neck; couldn’t she have choked before the killer stabbed her?”

Skyler shook his head. “The Monokuma File says that the cause of death was the knife wound. It hit her heart, killing her instantly.”

“Moving on,” Link said, shifting the topic of debate. “What about where she was killed? More importantly, how did the killer get in there?”

“I can answer that,” Alex said, causing Lauren’s gaze to shift to the taller man. “Cecil and I found a note in the hallway summoning someone to Ashe’s room after Night Time. It had the password to her room on it. That’s how he got in…”

“Ashe summoned the killer?” Lauren questioned, befuddled. “Why would she summon someone after Night Time? She was terrified of almost everyone and everything.”

“The note explained that, too.” Cecil explained, pulling out his ElectroID and looking at the picture of the note he took. “It said that she needed help looking over a textbook in her room. It seems like she didn’t want anyone else to know about the meeting.”

“Does that mean she wanted to go after the killer but they killed her first?” Ian questioned, holding a hand to his chin in thought.

Dante shook his head. “No. There’s no way she could’ve killed anyone.”

“No, you’ve got that wrong.” Cecil said. “She was very capable of killing, much like the rest of us. We can’t assume that simply because she seemed innocent that she couldn’t kill.”

“That’s...morbid…” said Lauren as she shuddered.

“We’re discussing the murder of a girl we literally talked to yesterday. That isn’t mildly morbid to you?”

“... fair point.”

“What about when the murder took place?” suggested Dylan. “The Monokuma File said that she was killed at 10:30 PM, not very long after Night Time was announced.”

“That has to mean that the killer went straight to Ashe’s room after Night Time was announced.” Juliet muttered.

“But everyone went straight to their own rooms, didn’t they?” Angel asked, speaking up for the first time. “I didn’t like, see anyone go to a room that wasn’t theirs.”

“There are always a few people who loiter around after Night Time starts,” Rose said. “I am one of them. Sometimes people don’t go back to their rooms until late into the night.”

“Doesn’t that make you suspicious, Rose?” Owen tentatively asked.

“No, seeing as I fully admit to loitering. I have nothing to hide.”

“Then everyone else who loiters should speak up!” he yelled, trying to out the others.

“I highly doubt that anyone will,” Cecil mused. “I mean, knowing it makes them suspicious either way would cause too much hesitation.”

“Anyways,” Raven started. “Let’s discuss the signs of struggle around the room.”

“That’s what the bruises on Ashe were, right?” Angel asked. “She was like, in a fight with the killer. So does that like, mean that she wasn’t expecting the fight?”

“Either that or the culprit was stronger than her.” Juliet said in her monotone voice. “They must have overpowered her and then stabbed her.”

“Wait,” Lauren said. “Backtracking a bit here, but if we just figure out who Ashe summoned to her room, then we have out culprit?”

Juliet nodded. “Precisely.”

“There’s also another critical piece of evidence I found in the laundry room,” Cecil said smugly. “I found the culprit’s bloodstained clothes hidden amongst the other clothes.”

Joe was taken aback. “What gave you the idea to search through the laundry?!”

“I’m unsure, I just had the feeling that something important was in there.” He said before presenting the evidence.

“The clothes I found were a bloodstained white dress shirt and a pair of jeans. They clearly weren’t mine, seeing as I only wear jeans to paint, and there is no traces of paint on these jeans.”

“They aren’t mine, either,” Dylan mumbled, fiddling with the end of the dress shirt over his tee shirt. “I’ve only got one of each. You can check my room, these are the only one’s I’ve got. And there isn’t any blood on ‘em.”

“And they’re not mine,” Joe said. “I’ve always got a sweater over my shirt.”

“But you three are the only ones who wear those,” said Lauren. “So that has to mean that one of you is lying!”

“And none of us have solid alibis,” Cecil muttered. “So now it’s just a matter of figuring out which one of us it is.”

“But that’s easy,” Skyler said, “Cecil, like you said, it’s clearly not you. This was really sloppily done, meaning that an Artist like yourself couldn’t have done it.”

“But maybe he was rushed?” Dylan questioned, trying to clear himself of suspicion.

“Not likely. He would’ve cleaned it up before leaving.” he mused. “Besides, it was 10:30 when she died, meaning he had plenty of time before any of us would find her.”

“But what about Owen and yourself?” Lauren questioned. “You two hung around Ashe almost constantly. Couldn’t that mean that one of you could’ve done it?”

“As sound as that logic is, think again about the bloodied clothes.” Cecil rebutted. “Neither of them wear a white dress shirt.”

“Oh… That makes sense.” She remained quiet after that, embarrassed.

“This dwindles it down to either Dylan or Joe.” Dante thought aloud.

“Exactly.” Rose said with a sense of confidence evident in her tone. “And I think I may know a way to determine which one it is.”

“What?!” Both suspects cried out, equally terrified.

“Ashe’s note gives us everything. Cecil, may I see your ElectroID?”

“Why?” He asked cautiously.

“I need to pull up the picture of Ashe’s note.”

“Ah. Then most certainly.” He said, pulling up the picture and handing the device to the Poet.

“Look here,” She said, pointing to a line in the note. “It says she needed help looking over a chemistry textbook. Now, thinking logically, who would she ask about this: the SHSL Comedian or the SHSL Academic?”

After a moment of consideration, everyone’s gaze slowly shifted to the trembling Academic. Joe gulped, being backed in a corner, seemed to be considering lashing out. Lauren gave him a look of pity and disappointment, sad that he was the apparent culprit. He was nothing but kind to everyone, and it had seemed almost too unlikely that he would have been the first to kill. His breathing quickened, and sweat ran down the side of his face. Cecil looked at Joe disdainfully.

“I had expected better from an Academic,” he said, emphasizing the word “Academic”.

“I-I… I was desperate…” Joe said, beginning his confession. “Seeing my family lying dead on the floor… I don’t know what came over me! I just had to get out! When Ashe sent me that note, I saw my chance…”

“Why don’t you tell us exactly what happened?” Skyler asked, somewhat calmly.

Joe took a deep breath before recounting what had happened. “I got that note just after we had been shown the videos. I guess she had slipped it in before we had gone. I read it and saw it as my chance to escape. I came by her room and told her that I’d help her out. She nearly begged me not to tell anyone about it, saying she didn’t want anyone else to know she struggled with Chemistry. Still not exactly sure why… Anyways, I… I went to her room that night with a knife I got from the kitchen during dinner… I unlocked the door with the password she gave me and crumpled the note up, shoving it in my pocket. But it fell out, I guess… That’s why you two found it… I went in and… when she turned her back, I attacked her… We fought for a bit before I knocked her down and… stabbed her…”

Lauren really wanted to go and give him a hug, seeing as he was still the kind boy he was before, but she didn’t want to touch him now, knowing he had blood on his hands. Still, she sympathized with him, and gave him a sorrowful look. He met her gaze for a brief moment, and it was then that she noticed the tears brimming in his eyes. Swallowing back the rising urge to comfort him, she turned her gaze away, choosing instead to look at the edge of her witness stand.

“Well, Monokuma? Are we correct?” Cecil asked the plush toy seated across from him.

“That’s up to you guys! In front of you are little Ballot Boxes. Choose who you think the culprit is and whoever has the most votes is deemed guilty! That is, if you guess correctly. Upupupu…”

Just as he said, the Ballot Box appeared in front of Lauren. It was just another screen, except this one had everyone’s names on it. Ashe’s name was even there, though the box with her name on it was grey and not the colorful pink that the others were. Hesitantly, she pressed the box with Joe’s name on it. The screen processed it for a moment before shutting off and disappearing. Everyone else’s did the same as soon as they had voted.

After a moment, a screen appeared behind Monokuma with the image of a slot machine on it. It spun, zooming past small cartoon pictures of everyone before eventually all three slots landed on Joe, deeming him guilty. Pixelated coins spilled out of the slot machine, showing that they were right.

“Good job, guys! You guessed it! Joe Harris offed the Cosmetologist!” Monokuma cheered

Joe broke down behind his witness stand, falling to the floor and sobbing. Over and over again, he mumbled “I’m sorry”, “Ashe was innocent”, and “I’m so sorry guys”. Lauren then caved in and went over to him, patting him on the back and reassuring him that it wasn’t his fault. He flinched, looking up at her with a mournful face, and looked back down. As he buried his face in his hands, Alex tried to speak.

“J-Joe…?” He whispered, however it was loud enough for the culprit to hear.

Joe said nothing, not even lifting his head to look at his friend. However, they could all tell that he was listening to Alex. It was heartbreaking for Lauren to see this, especially with the knowledge of how close the two had been. This wasn’t how a friendship as strong as theirs should end.

“Why…?” Alex asked in a louder voice. “Why did you do it?!”

“I was desperate!” Joe cried with his head still in his arms, causing his voice to muffle slightly. “I had to get out and see if everyone was okay!!”

“And you were going to let us all die to do that?!”

Stunned, Joe was silenced. He clearly hadn’t considered that. Looking back up at Alex, Lauren noted that there were tears streaming steadily down his face as well. She sent him a sympathetic glance and patted Joe on the shoulder once again.

Then Monokuma began to speak.

“Hate to shut down the party when it’s in full swing, but we’ve gotta get along with the show. I’ve prepared a beary special punishment for the SHSL Academic, Joe Harris! Let’s get this ball a rollin’! It’s PUNISHMENT TIME!”

Lauren was thrown away from Joe as a chain shot out and grabbed him, dragging him out. Dante helped her up and they all swiftly chased after Joe.

By the time they had caught up to him, he was strapped into a standard school desk. Spikes coated the desk, each a metallic silver and four inches high. He began to hyperventilate as he looked up and saw several white packets falling towards his head.

**_PUNISHMENT: GRADING SCALE_ **

One by one, the packets fell and balanced on Joe’s head, weighing it down towards the spikes. His breathing got heavier and heavier the closer his face drew to the silver spires. After a minute, a packet as thick as a cinderblock came hurdling down towards the poor academic’s head. He screamed one final time before it crashed down, finally slamming his head onto the spikes. Blood spurted all around the desk and onto the floor. His body fell limp, and his arms dangled off to the sides of the desk .

Lauren began to feel tears prick her eyes as she stared in horror at the fresh corpse of Joe Harris, the boy who she had been comforting only a few moments ago. She held a hand over her mouth in shock of the absolute brutality of the execution. Dante, who had been looking at her in concern, hesitantly wrapped an arm around her shoulders in an attempt to console her. Both were trembling, Lauren much more so than Dante, yet they both remained where they stood. The tears then began to spill over, causing Dante to gently squeeze her shoulders in a comforting manner.

Alex had fallen to the ground beside them, clinging at the metal fence blocking the students from the body of their dead friend. His despairing sobs were quiet and miniscule, but they still sounded out through the large room.

Despair was all that could be felt in the death room, and no one was quite yet ready to face the reality they were in.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

**SURVIVORS LEFT: 13**


	6. Part Six: Small Talk

**CHAPTER TWO: DESPAIR OVER YOUR TOMORROW**

  
**Part Six: Small Talk**   
**DANTE**

As much as he hated to admit it, Dante was beginning to feel the despair.

It had started around the time Joe was being accused, and Dante saw how badly Monokuma had gotten to him. Seeing the poor Academic trembling behind his witness stand as the accusations came made the SHSL Pyromaniac want to burn something. It made him very, very angry.

_Those damn videos caused him to kill someone!_ He thought, clenching his fist. _I bet they were fake, too. No way they coulda really killed our families. Right…?_

He shook his head, trying to dismiss the thought. A brief flashback of the image of his baby sister lying dead on the floor of his old academy was enough to inflict despair, but to see someone kill over the fabricated things… Sighing out, Dante shifted his focus to the small lighter in his hand. The metallic object eased his nerves ever so slightly, but it still wasn’t enough. He felt around in his inner jacket pockets for the box of cigarettes he always kept with him. Finally finding the box, he sighed as he pulled out a death stick and lit it, bringing it up to his lips.

He silently thanked himself for lighting it in his room, where no one would catch him. It didn’t seem likely that the smoke would go under the door, so he felt safe to smoke. However, guilt was still present as he took a long drag. He had promised his brother Sammy that he would quit, but the overall despair of the death school was beginning to be too much for Dante. Anyone could die at a moment’s notice, much like poor Ashe and Joe had. He could die at any moment, so why not quicken up the process?

Upon thinking of Ashe, he began to really dwell on her murder. More specifically, why she had been the first one to die. Dante had had some suspicions that she wouldn’t last long, but not in the sense that she would be killed in cold blood.

_‘Wait a minute,’_ He thought, taking another drag. _‘Where am I getting that she’d kill somebody?’_

_‘Is there...more to the story?’_

Furrowing his eyebrows together in deep thought, Dante finished off his cigarette and put it out on the side of his desk. He hopped off of said desk before turning to the door. As he swung open the door, he felt something collide with the wooden door and fall to the floor. He peeked around the door and saw Lauren sprawled out on the floor, clutching her head in pain.

“Shit, Lauren, ya okay?!” He yelled, helping her up. “Sorry, didn’t see ya.”

“I’m okay! Or at least, I will be… Heheh…” She said in that cheery voice of her’s. “More importantly, are you okay, Dante? You’ve been really distant since the trial…”

“Hasn’t everyone?” retorted Dante calmly. “No one’s been especially cheery the last few days. Well, with exception of you.”

Lauren laughed and fully stood. “I can’t help it, I’m just naturally happy.”

“I can tell.” Dante chuckled. “So what’d ya need, Performer?”

“I wanted to make sure you were okay. You’ve been really depressed and I needed to make sure you were holding up okay.”

Dante looked at her with an amused expression. “You do this for everyone?”

A light flush heated up her cheeks. “N-Not exactly… Just people I care about.”

“Really now?” He said, that same amused look in his eyes. “You care for a crazed Pyromaniac like myself? Doll, you might need help.”

She was silent for a moment, making Dante chuckle again. “I’ll be just fine, doll. You calm down and it’ll be fine-”

“I’m perfectly calm!” She said a little too quickly, cutting him off.

“Whatever you say.”

“Hmph.” Lauren smiled. “But in all seriousness, are you alright?”

Sighing and knowing she wasn’t going anywhere until he spilled, Dante told her. “I’m just a bit shaken up about the trial. I’ve got the feeling that there was more to the murder than what was revealed.”

  
“So I’m not the only one who thought that!”

“Wait, what?”

  
“After the trial, I really began thinking about what Joe said had happened. Something just didn’t add up, and I’ve been trying to figure out what it was.” Lauren explained.

He nodded. “Something about Ashe just summoning him out of the blue like that, especially after those videos were released…”

“But wait, Joe said that the note had been there before going to see the videos.”

“He said that it was there when he got back. She coulda’ slipped it in after, like before he got there.”

“Hmm… I’m not quite sure.” Lauren pondered, holding a fist to her chin in thought. “I mean, Ashe wasn’t really all that sneaky, so I’m not sure…”

“True… But ya never know, she might’ve. Then again, all of us were pretty shell shocked from those videos…”

“True that…” She shook her head. “I just don’t know. Something is just off about all of this.”

“Yeah…” He watched as she sighed in frustration. As much as this was bugging him, it seemed to be irritating her more, and it was beginning to show on her features. Her eyebrows were furrowed together, and her full lips were curved downwards in a pout. She looked really cute in his eyes… which upon thinking, he quickly dismissed the thought and tried to suppress it. However, he was so caught up in thinking that he failed to notice Lauren trying to get his attention.

“Sorry, what?”

“I said, are you okay?” Her tone was full of concern. “Also, you smell like smoke…”

Dante chuckled. “I’m the SHSL Pyromaniac, I always smell like smoke.”

“But this is like, fresh smoke. You always have a faint scent of smoke on you, but now it’s really strong… Did you set something on fire?” She asked sternly.

“N-No! Besides, wouldn’t you guys know if I set something off?”

“Hmm… That is true.” She mused. “Then why do you smell like smoke?!”

Dante was quiet, not wanting to open up about his habit to anyone. It was a rather touchy subject first of all, and he knew she would be relentless in trying to get him to quit. That’s just the way she is, and he didn’t really need that sort of pestering. However, she was persistent without even saying anything. The determined look in her ocean blue eyes made him weak, wanting to completely open up to her and tell her his woes.

Pursing his lips, he frowned at her. “Why do you care so much?”

  
“Do you smoke?”

  
“What?”

“I said, do you smoke?”

He was silent for a moment, debating on whether or not he should fess up. Granted, this was Lauren. She only wants to help, right? Still, he doesn’t exactly want people to know that he has a smoking habit…

“I knew it!” She cried out.

Wait.

“... I was thinking out loud, wasn’t I.”

“Mhmm!” She nodded triumphantly before a solemn look crossed her features.

“... now what is it?” Dante asked hesitantly.

“You really need to quit.”

He waved her off. “I know, I know. It’s not that easy, though. Nicotine is addicting, and I’m too far gone.”

“That was… out of character.”

“The hell d’ya mean by that?!”

She laughed. “There’s the Dante I know!”

Laughing quietly with her, Dante crossed his arms and leaned against the hallway wall. Lauren eventually calmed down and looked up at him. There was another brief moment of silence between them. Dante soon began to feel awkward; the silence had been going on for a few minutes now.

She’s still not saying anything, he thought. Why isn’t she saying anything?!

Clearing his throat, he spoke up. “There anything else you needed, Performer?”

“You can call me my name, you know.” She smiled warmly as she said this.

“Alright then, Lauren,” He said, putting humored emphasis on her name. “There anything else you needed?”

“Not really. I just wanted to see if you were okay.” A thought seemingly struck her. “Hey, why don’t we get together at dinner tonight and talk more about the murder case?” She suggested.

Dante pondered it for a moment before nodding. “Sure thing, doll.”

Lauren just smiled as she turned and walked away, presumable going back to her room.

“She’s an odd one for sure… Heh.”

 

 

  
A few hours later, Monokuma called all of the students to the gymnasium again. The atmosphere was tense, with almost everyone anxious about what Monokuma would have to say this time around. Almost everyone. Cecil and Rose both didn’t seem too affected by the sudden summoning. However, the fact that the Artist still remained calm after what had happened seemed almost… wrong. Dante brushed the thought off though, thinking that it must be his fucked up “artist’s perspective”. Artists tended to have an odd way of looking at things.

He was really beginning to hate those two.

Specifically that damned Artist.

The way he held a sense of superiority over the group bugged Dante beyond belief. Just because he was a famous artist, he felt that he was better than everyone else. Everything about Cecil, from his attitude to even the way he stood and spoke annoyed the Pyromaniac. He was just so damn stuck up! One of these days, he would have to prove to that damned Artist that he isn’t all that he thinks he is.

Dante stopped his train of thought as soon as Monokuma started to speak.

“Alrighty, now to explain something else that you all can’t seem to figure out on your own!” The bear said whimsically. “The shutters to the second floor have been lifted! That means you guys now have access to that floor!”

“Well I’m glad to see that the brutal killings of our friends have gotten us more elbow room…” Dante muttered.

“Shush with your sass!” Monokuma shouted. “Anyways, you’re free to explore until Night Time! Byeyonara, bitches!”

He then disappeared from sight. Dante shifted his weight over and scoffed.

“If that’s all he wanted to say he coulda made a video announcement.” He murmured.

“And you could learn to shut your mouth.” Cecil said offhandedly.

“Like you’re one to talk, aristocratic prick!”

“Speaking in words with more than three syllables? I’m impressed.” Cecil smirked, crossing his arms and glaring at the Pyromaniac coldly. “I would have thought you burned away all of your brain cells by now.”

“And just what is that supposed ta mean?!” Dante shouted. “At least I have fucking emotions! You’re a heartless prick!”

  
“Oh come on, you don’t even know how to retort!” yelled Cecil, staring Dante down. “You don’t use the same insult twice! Surely you know something other than “prick” in that vocabulary of yours!”

“Sure I do! I could call you an asshole, a bitch, a little shit, even something more creative if I wanted!”

“You want creative insults? You’re so stupid that a dead penguin could easily beat you in an IQ test!”

“Guys, please, stop!” Lauren cried, bringing herself between the two hotheads and stopping them. “Don’t fight! It’s exactly what Monokuma wants!”

  
“Tch!” Cecil scoffed. “This doesn’t concern you, Performer. Stay out of this!”

“Oi! Don’t talk to her like that!” Dante roared over at the Artist.

“Oh, I see now. Defending your girlfriend, are we?” He taunted. “Get out of my way, little girl. Let me finish what I started.”

  
“Oh, so you admit to starting this?!”

“I do indeed! Now get out of the way!” He roughly shoved Lauren off to the side, allowing there to be space between the two opponents. Lauren landed with a yelp, causing Skyler to rush to her side and drag her gently out of the way of the two.

That’s when Dante got _enraged._

“Listen the _fuck_ up, you chicken shit!” He said, grabbing Cecil by the collar of his dress shirt. “Don’t go fuckin’ around with someone as innocent as Lauren, ya’ hear?! She didn’t do nothin’ to ya!”

“Oh, you’re just asking for me to hit you!” Cecil growled out.

“You want pain, fuckboy?!” Dante said, pulling out his lighter. “I’ll fucking give you pain!”

That was when everyone decided to intervene, with Link and Dylan pulling the boys apart. Dante managed to land a hit on the side of Cecil’s jaw before they grabbed him. Link cautiously grabbed the lighter from Dante’s hand, his own getting slightly burnt in the process. Dylan was only barely able to handle the writhing Pyromaniac as he tried to attack them. Lauren, who had been helped up by Skyler, swiftly rushed over to Dante, trying to calm him down. Upon seeing she was alright, he stopped thrashing, allowing the boys to let him go.

“You okay?” He asked, rubbing his fist.

“I’m fine, are you?” Lauren asked worriedly.

“Peachy.” He cracked his knuckles, glaring at the coughing Artist.

“I’m not finished with you.” Cecil muttered before composing himself and leaving, wiping a trail of blood from his mouth.

Dante scoffed before letting Lauren fret over him, smiling down at the blonde. That punch might have hurt, but he seemed pretty content with getting to hit that son of a bitch. Even if it was only one blow.


	7. Part Seven: Answered Questions

**Part Seven: Answered Questions**   
**OWEN**

Owen sighed as he walked back to his room. He had expected a fist fight any day now, and was not AT ALL surprised that Dante was involved. But Cecil? That was… unexpected, to say the least. Though, it did make sense that they would fight, in retrospect. They seemed like polar opposites, with Cecil being sophisticated and cynical while Dante was more casual and, well, hot headed.

He glumly opened the door to his dorm, far too exhausted to search the new floor.

 _I’ll just do it tomorrow,_ he thought glumly. _I just wanna go to bed now._

Ever since Ashe’s death, Owen had been stuck in a rut. He hadn’t been romantically interested in her, oh no; she was the only friend he had had in a long time. Being a scientist was lonely. That he had discovered the hard way. Sure, he still had Skyler, but Ashe and him had had a certain connection. It was difficult for him to explain. Chemistry and biology were more his thing, not psychology.

Flopping down on his neatly made bed, Owen stared up at his ceiling, deep in thought. He wondered what would happen next in this death game; more specifically, who was next. Ashe dying, no one could have predicted that! Especially the fact that Joe was her killer… It had seemed so out of the blue! Something stood out about the whole ordeal to him: there was a piece missing to this puzzle. Furrowing his eyebrows together, Owen swore to himself that he would find what was missing.

He WAS a scientist, after all.

He felt it was his job to.

Eventually, he drifted off to sleep, thoughts of the murder case still swimming around in his mind.

 

 

Waking up to the sound of Monokuma’s dreadful voice, Owen contemplated just staying there all day. It was then that he realized that he had slept in his clothes. However, he didn’t really seem to care all that much. Briefly looking in the mirror, Owen fixed his light brown hair before heading out to the cafeteria.

He must have been late getting out of bed, seeing as nearly everyone was already in the cafeteria. Ian and Lauren sat at the table closest to the door and stopped him from getting farther in.

“What is it?” He asked in a tired voice.

The SHSL Dancer looked at him in concern. “We’re worried about you, Owen.” He said in his Irish accent.

“Yeah…” Lauren piped in. “I mean, after yesterday, we didn’t really see much of you. How are you doing?” Her voice was soft and laced with concern.

“My best friend was murdered by the smartest idiot I’ve ever had the pleasure of meeting,” He deadpanned. “How do you think I’m doing.”

Ian cleared his throat. “I know… I’m so sorry that all happened…”

Owen shook his head, resting his arms on the table. “There’s nothing we can do now.”

“Hey…” Lauren said after a brief moment of silence. “Owen, do you mind if I ask you a question about the murder?”

“Sure. I don’t even care at this point.”

At that moment, Dante came over to their table and sat next to Lauren as she asked her question.

“Did Ashe seem… off, at all, the last time you saw her?”

He thought about that for a minute. Had she? She had been shaken up about the videos, much like everyone else had, but was there anything else wrong? After a minute of thought, he shook his head.

“Not that I can think of, no. Why do you ask?”

Dante answered, surprisingly enough. “We all think there was more to the murder. Something that didn’t come up during the investigation. We’re trying to figure out what it was.”

  
“And since you and Ashe were best friends, we figured you might’ve seen somethin’ we hadn’t.” Ian said.

“Sorry to disappoint…” The SHSL Scientist murmured. “But hey, you guys feel that there was something off about it, too?”

“I am SO glad we aren’t the only ones!” Lauren quietly cheered.

“I’m starting to begin wondering if maybe asking Monokuma might be a good idea…” Ian pondered aloud. “I mean, he had to’ve seen it through those security cameras of ‘is.”

“Maybe you’re right!” Dante said. “Maybe he’d spill if we all asked together!”

“Maybe…” Owen mumbled. “But we’d have to wait until the others are gone.”

“Why d’ya say that?” asked Dante.

“I mean, we seem to be the only ones who noticed this. It wouldn’t be a good idea if we made a scene in front of everyone, especially if it turns out we were wrong.”

The small group pondered this for a moment before deciding Owen was right and waiting. In the meantime, they made small talk, asking each other things about themselves. Owen learned a lot about the small group, particularly the Irish Dancer. His strikingly green eyes always seemed to light up when he spoke, especially when he smiled. Freckles were scattered around his pale face, clustered around his nose and cheekbones. His hair was a muted shade of orange with a small cluster of black dip dyed into the fringe falling over his cheek. His face was a rounded shape, and his small nose stuck out, but in a charming way. Overall, Owen found Ian to be quite charming, even kinda… cute?

 _Yeah. Cute._ He thought, smiling. _Definitely._

“Owen?” Lauren asked. “You alright? You’re staring into space.”

“Huh? Sorry, still waking up.” He chuckled nervously.

“I get that,” Ian said, stretching his relatively toned arms behind his head. “I’m still shaken up ‘bout yesterday. Had a lot of trouble sleeping after that… punishment.”

“I think we all did,” Dante commented. “That was brutal… I feel so bad for that guy.”

“Yeah… But you have to remember that he was the one who killed her.” Lauren said mournfully. “He attacked her while her back was turned.”

“But is that really what happened?” Owen questioned, waving his hand for emphasis.

“Whadya mean?” Ian asked.

“Did… Did Joe really attack Ashe first?” He said, realization setting in and changing his tone. “Was Joe really the instigator of all this?”

“What are you suggesting, Owen?” Lauren said, crossing her arms on the table.

“Are you saying that Ashe started all this?” Ian said, the same realization in his voice.

He nodded solemnly. “As much as I don’t want to believe it, that’s what it looks like.”

The other three sitting at the table were silenced as they thought it over. Lauren’s face looked troubled as she considered the possibility that Ashe was the instigator. She had seemed so innocent, like she could never hurt another human being even if she tried. Owen then began to put the pieces together.

During the trial, Owen had noticed signs of bruising on his wrists and on the side of his neck. Had those been caused because of him fighting her? No, that doesn’t explain the bruises on his neck… That did point to the possibility that Ashe had attacked him first. Maybe he fought back and accidentally ended up killing her? Perhaps. That did seem likely. Joe wouldn’t have purposely gone in with the intention of killing her.

Or was his explanation correct? Did he really attack her when her back was turned? Is that really what had happened?

“Wait just a minute,” Dante said. “I think I know how we can get Monokuma to tell us who the culprit really was.”

“Really? What is it?” Owen asked.

“Well, someone had to have gone into the kitchen to get the murder weapon,” the Pyromaniac explained. “If we ask who retrieved the knife, then we have our culprit!”

“That does make sense,” Ian said. “Let’s do it!”

Owen and Lauren nodded in agreement, and the group waited for the others to slowly file out of the cafeteria. Thankfully, no one asked any of them what they were doing staying in there so long, so there were no awkward explanations to be made. Once everyone else had left, they all stood up. Dante glanced around one final time before calling out to the two toned bear.

“‘Ey! Monokuma!” He yelled out, effectively catching the bear’s attention.

“Yo! What’s up what’s up what’s up?” The plush toy yelled back as he sprung out of seemingly nowhere.

“We have a few questions for you,” Dante said, crossing his arms across his chest.

Monokuma tilted his head to the side. “Questions? What kinda questions?”

“Questions pertaining to Ashe’s murder case.” Ian said.

“Ohhhh, alright! I can answer those for ya!”

“What really happened when Ashe was killed?” Owen asked.

“Whaddya mean? Joe went into Ashe’s room and stabbed her with a kitchen knife.” He said, misunderstanding the question.

“No, that’s not what I mean.” The SHSL Scientist explained. “Tell me detail for detail what happened during her murder.”

“Oh, I see what’s going on here!” Monokuma said, putting his paws on his hips confidently. “You’re trying to solve the mysteries of your girlfriend’s murder!”

Owen’s face turned red. “N-no! She’s not- she wasn’t my girlfriend. I don’t… y-y’know… “

“Don’t what?” The bear urged.

“...swing that way…” Owen mumbled, face completely flushed.

“Upupupu! Gahahahaha! I know that, boy!” Monokuma laughed at the boy’s despair.

After a minute, he calmed down and looked at the scientist. “You wanna know what happened to her? I can do something better than tell you, I can show you!”

“Show us?” Lauren questioned in a frightened voice.

“He does have security cameras in our rooms…” Ian said dryly. “I suppose he has it recorded.”

“Righto, Leprechaun boy! Follow me!” Monokuma said as he began to walk down the hallway. The group of teenagers trailed behind, curious and quite scared as to where he was taking them. Walking down the halls, Owen would occasionally notice the sounds of the other students in the rooms they passed. Eventually, they came to a stop outside the A/V Room where their videos had been previously shown. Monokuma pushed the door open and walked inside, the students right behind. He pointed to one of the monitors.

“Right on there is the video footage from Ashe’s room the night of the murder. You’ll see and hear everything that happened that night! Upupupu!” He said before taking his leave.

Hesitantly, Owen sat down in front of the designated monitor and booted it up. Lauren, Dante, and Ian crowded around him, trying to see for themselves what the bear was talking about. The screen was dark for a moment while the footage loaded. Soon, it finished it’s buffer and the footage began to play.

Through the screen, they saw Ashe sitting in a chair in front of her desk in her room. It looked like she was waiting for someone. There was a notepad on her desk, appearing to be the notepad she used to write Joe the note summoning him. Everything looked normal enough. Except, something about Ashe seemed… off. Perhaps it was the grim expression on her face? The way her hands clutched at something under the desk? Wait… what was she holding?

“You guys see that?” Owen said, pointing to her clenched hands.

Ian noticed. “What it that she’s holding?”

  
“I think it just glinted,” Lauren said.

“It just what?” Dante asked.

“Like, there’s something shiny in her hands. It looks metallic…”

“It’s the knife!” Ian cried, figuring it out. “She’s holding the knife that killed her!”

“What?!” Owen asked.

“Shh, shh! Something’s happening!” Lauren said as she pointed back at the screen.

There was a knock on her door. Ashe called out a “Come in!” to the person behind the door. “It’s unlocked!”

Joe walked through the door, except he wasn’t wearing the sweater he usually wore over his dress shirt. It made him look much more casual, which it looked like he was going for. He smiled upon entering, mumbling something to himself. Ashe looked at him and carefully set the knife she held onto the chair before quickly pushing it in and standing. Joe was still unaware of the knife. The two briefly talked before Joe went over to the bookshelf to grab the textbook Ashe had mentioned in her note.

While his back was turned, Ashe pulled the knife out from the chair and crept up on Joe. Seeing as he was having trouble finding the textbook, it gave her the perfect opening. He turned and saw her with the knife raised, causing him to yelp in terror and dodged the swing of the blade. Ashe, with a murderous gleam in her eyes, chased after him, sending blow after blow at him.

He dodged fearfully as she attacked him. Eventually, he started using his arms to defend himself, causing some cuts and bruises to appear on his arms. The sleeves of his dress shirt were splotched with small amounts of blood from where the knife managed to hit him. There was a mad look on Ashe’s face, as if she had completely lost it. Though it seemed to Owen like she had.

Their struggle continued, throwing objects in the room around and disheveling the bed and desk arrangement. However, neither seemed to really care at the moment. Eventually, Joe began fighting back. He began throwing hits at her, trying to knock her off balance. It seemed like he was slipping into a trance, seeing as his actions became more controlled. After a while, he began to actually hit her. Ashe recoiled, but seeing as she was too determined to give up then, she continued fighting.

Owen watched as Joe knocked Ashe over, tripping her over one of the fallen textbooks on the floor. He pulled the knife out of her hands and approached her. Ashe groaned in pain, moving the book that she had landed on out of the way. However, she failed to see that Joe was looming over her, knife raised above his head. His face was expressionless as he plunged the knife into her back. Owen’s eyes widened as he watched the blood spurt out the wound at the impact and onto Joe’s dress shirt and pants. The bright color of the blood contrasted greatly against the darker color of Joe’s skin. His eyes were wide in terror when he realized what he’d done, and at Ashe’s now dead body falling limp on the floor.

Panic filled Joe’s face as he ran off, away from the scene of the crime. Tears cascaded from his face in fear, and guilt made him tremble. He bolted out of the room, and the camera switched to a different location. It showed the laundry room, filled to the brim with everyone’s dirty clothes. Joe ran in in non-blood covered clothing, clutching a lump in his hands. Blood dripped from them, which Joe noticed, and he hastily shoved them underneath a pile before bolting out again. The video then ended.

“...so Ashe really DID start it…” Lauren muttered.

“Y-Yeah…” Ian breathed out, horrified.

Owen almost couldn’t move. Despair and realization froze him on the spot. He heard what the other three were saying, but he didn’t process it.

_Ashe was a murderer?_


	8. Part Eight: Money Money Money

**Part Eight: Money Money Money**   
**IAN**

 

Taking a seat in one of the empty classrooms, Ian thought over what he had seen.

The video footage shocked him to the core. He almost refused to believe what he saw. Ashe WAS the instigator. She was planning to kill Joe that night. But why? Why would someone as easily frightened and terrified as Ashe try to kill someone? It all seemed so wrong to Ian.

He shook his head, dismissing the thought. Cecil had been right earlier in saying that anyone could be a killer. As much as he hated to admit that the Artist was right, it was proven true by that security footage. The thought of the SHSL Artist brought a disgusted expression, causing Ian to cringe. He loathed Cecil. The guy was too arrogant, and he held himself with a sense of authority. It was annoying. He was a total prick, and Ian had the feeling that Cecil was perfectly aware of that.

Ian folded his hands and leaned forward, trying to calm down the rage surging inside him at the thought of the Artist. Inhaling deeply, he calmed himself, choosing instead to dwell on the video once again. It was horrifying, but in a morbid way, it made sense.

_‘I mean, no one can be THAT innocent, right?’_ he internally questioned.

Then another thought popped into his mind: what if she had reached her breaking point? An academic coliseum would send someone weak-minded to their limit quite quickly. It was a wonder that most everyone else hadn’t broken yet, himself included. Ashe reaching that point made quite a lot of sense once he applied that logic. Joe had just been caught in the middle of it all, and that led to his death.

Ian pitied the deceased Academic. He truly did not want to kill Ashe, that much was clear, and being roped into the mess he had been had killed him. The boy wouldn’t have hurt anyone if things had gone on as it normally did.

Thinking of Joe also brought up the thought of Alex, the Academic's best friend. Ian had no idea how the poor guy was coping. Hell, he hadn’t left his room since the trial. Though, it DID make sense. His best friend was just murdered, after all. After the trial and brutal execution had finished, Alex looked completely shattered. His eyes were wide and blank, matching his expressionless face perfectly. He looked like an empty shell, in all honestly. It was disturbing. Though, Ian supposed, he would be the same way if he was in the Gamer’s shoes.

The trial had been traumatic for all of them, but poor Alex had had it the worst. On the other hand, Rose and Cecil had been almost too calm about the whole ordeal. Both had arrived to the crime scene late and seemed rather uninterested the entire investigation. He thought it was just artist’s intuition, but he had his doubts. After all, anyone could be a killer. Those two just happened to fit into the mold a little too well.

The sound of a door opening snapped him back into reality. “Huh, what? Who’s there?” He called as he turned around to see who was at the door, only to see the dreaded Artist himself. He approached the Dancer with a sense of suspicion looming over him.

“I have a few questions for you, Dancer,” Cecil said, crossing his arms.

“Why would I answer anything _you_ have to ask, Artist?” Ian replied in a bitter tone.

“Because we’re forced to trust each other here, right? Monokuma took you and a few others down the hall earlier and said something about “showing you something”. None of the others have answered me. What did he show you?”

“Why do ye care to know?”

  
“Why do you insist on knowing my motives?”

  
“Because there’s no way I can trust ye,” Ian snapped, glaring at Cecil. “You’re rude and cynical, calculating our every moves. It’s like you’re trying to figure out your next murder target!”

“I assure you, I’m not.” Cecil said calmly. “It would be far too obvious if I killed anyone, seeing as I despise you all. Now answer my question.”

Ian hesitated, not wanting to give the teen what he wanted. “... he showed us the security footage showing what happened when Ashe was killed.” He reluctantly admitted.

Cecil looked taken aback. “What? The security footage? Why would he show you that?”

“We wanted to know what really happened during Ashe’s murder. Something seemed off about it all.”

“And?” Cecil made a motion with one of his hands. “What did you find?”

“Not sure if I should tell ye.” Ian said, crossing his arms and eyeing Cecil up suspiciously. “I mean, you said it yerself. Anyone could be a murderer. Even you. Why should I trust you with such valuable information?”

Cecil’s eyes narrowed before he closed them and sighed. “I understand your mistrust. However, you already heard my reasoning. I’m no killer, and neither are you.”

“You would’ve said the same about Ashe, and look what happened there.”

“No, she was predictable. I knew she would try, I just didn’t know who she’d target.”

“You really do just view this as a game, don’t you?”

The Artist chuckled. “A game of life, yes. It’s much more enjoyable if you think of it in that way.”

“Why would I want to think of my friends slaughtering each other in a positive light?!”

“Why do you still consider them your friends?” Cecil questioned, folding his arms once again. “At any point, someone could kill you. If I were someone else, I could easily kill you right now. Why choose to call your potential killer your friend?”

  
“Why are you so distrusting?!” Ian shouted. “You might have some friends if you stopped acting like such a dick!”

“Why do you naively place trust in people who could so easily turn on you?!” Cecil retaliated. “At least I won’t be stabbed in the back by someone I trusted! Not unlike that Cosmetologist!”

“You didn’t know anything about Ashe!” Ian stood and screamed in his face.

“Really now?! I know that she was afraid of her own shadow! I know she hated me for telling her the truth! I know she was a bumbling idiot with no independence! She relied on you lot to get anything done!”

“...” Ian was silent as he backed down. “I hate you.”

“You say that now, but believe me, you won’t forever.” Cecil spat before turning on his heel and leaving the classroom.

Rage boiled in Ian’s blood as he glared at the door the Artist had left through. God, did he hate that guy. This was exactly why, the guy was always looking for a fight. Dante had already socked him in the jaw, and it looked like that had hurt. Cecil STILL had a fading bruise on the side of his jaw. Why did that guy never let up?

Taking a deep breath, he began to calm himself down once again. It wouldn’t do him any good to stay enraged forever. Glancing at the clock on the wall, Ian noticed it was around time for lunch, so he stood up and headed over to the cafeteria.

Once he arrived, he saw that a few people had already gathered. Skyler and Owen sat at their regular table in the corner, and Lauren and Dante sat at a table and looked to be in deep conversation. Dylan sat by himself, staring off into space and munching on a small bag of potato chips. Other than that, no one had shown up quite yet. Ian went into the kitchen and grabbed an apple before taking a seat by himself near the door. He sat in silence as he ate, occasionally glancing at the door to see if anyone else had shown up.

After a few more minutes of waiting, the remaining students flooded into the cafeteria, causing the chatter to rise. Juliet had entered, wearing the same stoic look she always had. Ian, deciding he wanted to learn more about her, beckoned her over with the wave of his hand. She eventually saw his attempt and walked over to his table.

“Is there something you need?” The SHSL Soldier asked in a calm voice.

“Yeah, actually,” Ian said, motioning to the seat across from him. “I was wantin’ to talk to ye, if that’s alright.”

She considered it for a moment before nodding and taking a seat. “What is it you want to talk about, Dancer?”

“I just want to learn about you. You rarely talk to any of us. I wanna know what ye’re like.” He said, folding his arms on the table.

“You will need to be more specific. What do you want to know?”

“Well, where’re you from?”

“Kyoto, Japan. I lived there until I was thirteen, and then I moved to New Hampshire with my father.”

“Really? You’re native Japanese?” Ian said, quite shocked seeing as she had an American accent.

Juliet nodded. “Yes. You seem surprised.”

“Sorry, it’s just that your accent is American.”

“Why is that puzzling?”

“Well, if you lived in Japan most of your life, you would still have a Japanese accent, right?” Ian asked, resting his face on his hand.

“You would think so, but that is not the case. I am unsure as to exactly what caused the change in my dialect; however, I suspect it was that I was raised in a household where we spoke more English than Japanese. My mother was white and my father was Japanese.”

“I guess that makes sense…” Ian muttered, nodding.

“What else do you wish to know?” Juliet asked.

“Hmm…” Ian thought for a minute. “Why did you become a soldier?”

She seemed to think over her answer before speaking. “I was raised under a very… traditional household. My father was part of a clan of infamous warriors and I was raised to be his successor. Father wanted my training to begin early, so after a long attempt of convincing, I was permitted to begin at age eight. I seemed to have extreme skill, and I quickly rose to the title of the next clan leader. The Japanese military took notice of me and had me secretly hidden within their ranks. I appear much older than I truly am, so it was quite easy for us.”

“What happened when yer family moved to America?”

  
“I continued to work under the Japanese military, but I only did missions on occasion. After I turned sixteen, I left their ranks, deciding instead to undergo American military training. When I came of age, I joined their ranks, and I am now a marine under the American Navy.”

“Did they know you were with the Japanese before?”

“Yes. I was a very notorious soldier, and am well known for getting the mission done regardless of the consequences.”

“I can imagine that would get you points in the military…”

“What about you, Dancer? Where do you come from?” She asked, raising her eyebrows slightly in curiosity.

“Huh? Oh, I come from Dublin, Ireland. Well, I was born there. I moved to New York when I was five and began takin’ dancin’ classes. Mum thought I should. So I pursued dancin’ throughout middle school and eventually began enterin’ competitions. Hope’s Peak noticed mah talents and asked me to attend, and since they apparently had a quality dance program, we accepted.” Ian said, throwing in a few hand gestures here and there.

“Interesting. Did you ever want to dance when you were younger?”

“Whaddya mean?” He asked, tilting his head to the side slightly.

“When you began your classes, did you have any desire to dance?”

  
“Oh. Well… I guess so? I never really thought about that.”

Juliet nodded in understanding. “That makes sense. It was a rather odd question.”

Ian chuckled. “It’s alright. I don’t care that much about it. I guess I did; I mean, I was lit’rally bouncin’ in my seat on the first day of class.”

She gave a miniscule smile. “Then I would presume you have always had a thing for dancing.”

“I guess so.”

Their conversation was cut short however as the TV in the cafeteria came to life and Monokuma’s eerily whimsical voice sounded throughout the cafeteria.

“Attention! Attention!!” He said. “Everyone please gather in the gymnasium at once! It’s an EMERGENCY!!”

The TV then shut off and the cafeteria was silenced. Ian looked hesitantly at Juliet, who still had a blank look on her face. She glanced at him and nodded.

“It would be smart of us to go now. We wouldn’t want to anger him.” She said as she stood and began walking in the gymnasium direction. Ian and the rest of the students followed, most anxious over what the bear had to say.

Angel and Cecil didn’t seem worried, he noticed. Angel just seemed bored and Cecil had that same sinister look he always wore. Ian did not trust those two, that was for sure. Both had an aura of suspicion around them.

Dante and Lauren came up behind Ian and Lauren tapped his shoulder. He turned around and smiled briefly at his friends.

“Whaddya think’s gonna happen in there?” Dante asked.

“Not sure. Though I can say with certainty that it won’t be anythin’ good.” Ian said, shaking his head slightly.

“That’s for sure.” Lauren said nervously. Dante patted her shoulder reassuringly.

“It’ll be alright. I think he’s just gonna throw another motive at us.” He muttered.

“That sounds likely.” said Ian.

The trio pushed open the gym doors and assembled with the rest of the group in the center of the gym floor. After a few moments, Monokuma flew up from behind the podium on the stage and plopped down, much like he had when he had first introduced himself. Ian mournfully thought that there were less people here this time around, a thought which made him sigh out through his nose.

“Hello hello hello!” The stuffed bear said.

“Now what do you want, Monokuma?” Cecil asked in a bored tone.

“Don’t sound so unamused, Boy Wonder. I’m actually here to tell you all something I think you’ll enjoy!” Monokuma said, pointing a finger (?) at the Artist.

A few stacks of neatly piled dollar bills fell from the ceiling in front of the bear and arranged themselves in a rectangular wall. Monokuma popped out from behind it.

“Money?” Skyler questioned.

“That’s right, shrimpy! Cash cash money! $10 million, to be exact!” Monokuma said, standing triumphantly on the money stack with his paws on his hips. “And it’s yours if you kill someone!”

“This is our next motive?!” Dylan shouted, eyeing up the pile of bills. “$10 million?!”

“Yupperoo!”

“Why would you place a dollar amount on our lives?!” Link yelled at the bear, furrowing together his brows. “Human lives are more valuable than any amount of money could be!”

“Oh? The Swordsman doesn’t like the motive?” Monokuma said, bringing a paw to his chin and tilting his head. “Well I guess that means HE won’t kill anyone. That sucks.”

“It sucks that someone won’t kill over money?!” Owen questioned fiercely.

“Well duh! An academic coliseum is boring as hell if people won’t kill! Besides, people kill over money all the time! Why wouldn’t you?”

“Because I’m pretty sure that no one in this room cares that much about money!” cried Alex.

Monokuma was silent for a moment. “Upupu...upupupu...gahahahahaha!!!” He doubled over laughing.

“W-What’s so funny?!” The SHSL Gamer nervously demanded.

“Careful what you say, kiddo. I’m POSITIVE that someone’s already planning out their kill!”

And with that, he was gone, along with all the money. The students were left in stunned silence as they glanced anxiously at one another. Cecil scoffed.

“Well, rest assured that I won’t do anything. I have no need for money.” He muttered as he turned and left the gym.

“Count me out, too. I’m a fucking model, I don’t need cash.” Angel said, rolling her eyes and leaving. Her red heels clicked behind her as she walked away.

Ian sighed nervously, looking at Dante and Lauren. She shook her head.

“I can’t believe he’s trying to bribe us like this… That’s low, even for Monokuma…”

“Yeah…” Ian mumbled. “I just hope no one takes the bait…”

“Someone probably will, as morbid as that is to say…” said Dante as he shoved his hands in his pockets. “I mean, he was right. There ARE people that desperate for money.”

“But those people are usually bankrupt adults.” Lauren pointed out. “I don’t think a teenager would be like that…”

“But anyone can be a killer, remember?” Ian said disdainfully, recalling what the damned Artist had told them. “You never know…”

The three of them then returned to their rooms, deciding to take a few minutes to calm down and relax. Ian unlocked his room door and locked it, deciding he didn’t want to talk to anyone for a while. In times like this, he found it best to just lie down and rest. And he did, choosing to kick his shoes off and shut off the lights. He stared up at the ceiling, ignoring the red light of the security camera, and after a few minutes, he dozed off into dreamland.

Five hours later, he woke up to find the sheets spread on the floor, along with himself. He must have fallen off. Groaning, he pushed himself off the ground and reluctantly turned the lights back on. He tossed the sheets back on the bed and glanced at the clock, and noticing it was time for dinner, he slipped his shoes on and headed to the cafeteria. He was a bit late, seeing as everyone else had already assembled. However, it seemed like some people were missing.

Thinking nothing of it, he took a seat next to Skyler, who had already begun eating. He was by himself, though.

“Hey, Skyler, where’s Owen?’ The Dancer asked.

“Huh? Oh, he said he wasn’t coming a few hours ago. He wanted to have some time for his research.” Skyler replied between bites of his food.

“Ah. What was he researchin’?”

“Something about the structure of the building bothered him. I think he mentioned something about the gym. If you’re looking for him, I’d check there.”

“Why don’t you?”

The Luckster shrugged. “I’m sure he’s just distracted by his work. It happens a lot.”

“Okay…” Ian said, standing. “Well, I’m gonna go get him. He needs to eat something.”

“Alright. See you later.”

Ian sped towards the gym, a bad feeling in his gut. He walked through the halls of the school ,praying to himself that Owen was alright. There was another murder motive, which means it’s possible someone could have killed him. He doubted it, however, seeing as it was very likely he had just gotten caught up in his work like Skyler had said.

However, upon entering the gym, he noticed a very small splotch of blood staining the floor near the edge of the bleachers. Ian’s eyebrows furrowed, and upon inspection, it appeared as if the drops of blood were relatively fresh. There was also a trail of it going across the gym to another set of doors near the ones Ian had entered through. He followed it fearfully, coming through to the hallway he had previously gone through. The faint trail led to the supply closet near the infirmary.

His breathing quickened as he turned the doorknob and pushed the door open. There was a pool of blood visible in the dark closet. Ian felt the wall for a light switch and flicked it on upon finding it.

However, his eyes widened in pure horror upon seeing the corpse propped up against one of the shelves, blood dripping down it’s face and onto it’s clothes. Ian let out a blood curdling scream before blacking out and falling to the floor.


	9. Part Nine: The End of Science (Second Trial Pt. 1)

**Part Nine: The End of Science (Second Trial Pt.1)**   
**RAVEN**

 

The Archer had been returning from the cafeteria when she heard the scream. Furrowing her brows in concern, she followed where the sound had come from cautiously. It had sounded like it was coming from the infirmary.

As she turned the corner, she saw Ian lying face down on the floor, half inside the opened storage closet, and a pool of blood pouring out from underneath him. She ran forward, swiftly checking his wrist for a pulse. Upon finding one, she sighed in relief and looked in the closet to find the source of the blood.

There she saw the corpse of Owen Palmer propped up against one of the metal shelves of the closet. There was a deep gash on his head, which dripped blood down his face and onto his once pristine white lab coat. His glasses were smashed, and pieces of them laid scattered on the floor. His eyes were wide and unmoving, and his limbs were limp. Raven backed up in shock. This is clearly what Ian had seen that had caused the scream.

Footsteps sounded behind her, and Skyler, Rose, and Link appeared at the scene. Skyler gasped upon seeing Ian.

“Ian’s dead?!” He cried.

“Not Ian…” Rose murmured, pointing into the closet.

The boys followed her wide-eyed gaze into the closet and tensed up upon seeing Owen’s body. Skyler in particular seemed much more upset than the others, and rightfully so. Raven stood slowly and continued to stare at the corpse as the others ran towards them.

Monokuma’s voice rang out. “DING DONG DING DONG! A body has been discovered! The Class Trial will begin soon.” He announced.

Everything seemed to move in a blur as she continued to stare at the body of her dead classmate. Her blank gaze was fixated on the cold corpse, her thoughts weren’t focused. It was as if everything had faded around her. Eventually, she was snapped back into reality by Juliet, who had been shaking her shoulder gently.

“Huh? What?” Raven asked.

“I said, are you alright?” The soldier replied.

“Yeah… I will be.”

Juliet nodded and walked into the supply closet to examine the body, stepping over Ian’s unconscious body. Rose followed behind her. Deciding it would be best for him, Raven grabbed Ian by his arms and moved him off to the side, dragging out some of the blood that had gotten onto him. She walked into the closet, taking a deep breath.

Rose and Juliet knelt in front of Owen and began examining the wound. “It looks like he was struck on the head by something metal.” Rose decided.

“A pipe, most likely.” Juliet murmured. “Where did the culprit get one is the question.”

“Perhaps from in here?” Raven suggested. “I mean, we have all sorts of things in here, so it’s possible there’s a pipe of some sort.”

“That sounds right.” Rose said.

_‘ITEM: HEAD WOUND : HAS BEEN ADDED TO EVIDENCE.’_

“What about his arms?” The SHSL Soldier asked, holding Owen’s limp wrist. “There aren’t any visible signs of struggle. The culprit must have caught him by surprise.”

“Wait, look at his watch.” Rose mentioned, pointing at the wristwatch Owen had been wearing. “See, it’s broken. Can you read what time it says?”

“1:30.” Juliet mumbled. “It has to have been this afternoon, seeing as we saw him this morning. He was with us in the gym when the motive was announced.”

“So that means he was killed a few hours ago.” The Poet concluded.

_‘ITEM: BROKEN WATCH : HAS BEEN ADDED TO EVIDENCE.’_

_‘ITEM: TIME OF DEATH : HAS BEEN ADDED TO EVIDENCE.’_

Raven looked down at the pool of blood under Owen. Now that she was up close, it was actually rather small under the body. The blood stretching out was not even connected to the blood under Owen. She knelt down beside it to get a better view. It seemed fresher than the blood on Owen, like it had just been placed there a few minutes ago. Raven furrowed her brows in confusion. Why was there blood placed on the scene of the crime?

_‘ITEM: EXTRA BLOOD? : HAS BEEN ADDED TO EVIDENCE.’_

Juliet seemed to pick up on this as well, looking closely at the blood at her feet.

“Owen was struck on his head, yes? A head wound should not produce that much blood.” She mused. kneeling down next to the large pool of blood. “The killer must have planted it here. But why?”

  
“Perhaps to hide something?” Rose pondered.

“But what would they be hiding that they’d need to cover it with blood?”

“Perhaps a sort of powder or paint? It has to be something small… Something liquid can cover up...” Raven said, trying to get a better look at the still pool of blood.

She then noticed Rose staring further into the supply closet. Her gaze was fixated on one of the shelves towards the back wall. The Poet walked forward, with Raven close behind.

“What is it?” She asked.

“Something’s off about the closet. Like… something seems out of place.” Rose mumbled. “I’m not quite sure what, though…”

Raven skimmed the room, trying to find something different. However, since she rarely came into the supply closet, she couldn’t see anything wrong. Rose’s determination, on the other hand, convinced her that something was astrew, so she kept looking. The shelf filled with tools drew her attention. Some of them were knocked over and disheveled, and the order of the equipment was completely unorganized.

“Rose, look here.” She said, waving to the Poet. “The tools are messed up.”

“Could that mean that the culprit used one of these to attack Owen?” Rose pondered, picking up a wrench.

Juliet stood and approached the pair. “I doubt it. The sports equipment is also unorganized. It seems more likely that the killer used one of those to bash his head in.”

“But the gash was too large to be a baseball bat.” Raven argued. “It was smaller, so it must have been a wrench.”

The Soldier shook her head, grabbing said tool and walking back to the body. Pushing Owen’s caramel colored hair out of the way, she held up the wrench next to the gash on his head.

“If it was a wrench, then there would be an indention in his head where the end of the tool is.” She said, tracing the wound. “The wound is a straight line.”

“Well, from that angle.” Rose muttered. “Look at it from over here; it’s curved in.”

Raven stood next to the Poet, examining the wound. She saw that Rose was correct; the wound was curved into his skull. That would eliminate the wrench as a weapon…

“Hmm…” Juliet hummed in thought, holding a fist to her chin. “That makes it seem more likely to be sports equipment, doesn’t it?”

“It does.” Raven agreed, looking around the closet. The wound itself was about one inch wide and six inches long, definitely eliminating the possibility of it being a baseball bat. Locating the shelf with the sports gear on it, Raven and Rose began searching it for something that would match the head wound. Rose seemed to have no consideration for cleanliness at the moment, tossing tubes full of ping pong balls over her shoulder. The two rummaged through the shelf, holding up and examining assorted pieces of equipment. Eventually, Raven reached the tennis rackets that hung at the very back. Picking one up, she held it up in front of her face, examining the rim.

“I think I may have found it,” she said, bringing the racket over to Owen’s body. Juliet moved out of her way, letting the Archer compare it to his head wound.

She lined it up with the gash, finding that it was a perfect fit. It matched the width and length of the wound almost perfectly.   
  
“Suppose that means we have our murder weapon.” Rose murmured.

_‘ITEM: TENNIS RACKET : HAS BEEN ADDED TO EVIDENCE.’_

“While this evidence is all fine and good, we still don’t have anything that points us directly to the killer.” Raven said, looking up from the dent in Owen’s head.

“Perhaps.” Juliet said, standing up. “I suppose that means we have to keep looking.”

“And we know that the culprit was trying to cover something up with the extra blood.” said Rose as she walked over the still pool of blood. “That in itself limits it down.”

“What do you mean?” The Archer asked.

“There aren’t a lot of things you can cover up with blood. It’s very possible that it is the killer’s blood, but if that were the case, we would have two bodies and/or someone with a very large open wound. The way I’m thinking is that it has to be either a powder or a sort of paint.”

“Paint?” Juliet questioned. “You suspect the Artist?”

  
Rose scoffed. “Who wouldn’t at this point?”

“But he made it clear that the motive didn’t interest him. Why would he kill Owen?” Raven asked.

“Maybe he saw him as a threat?” Juliet offered. “A scientist would perhaps pry into his past and might have discovered something dark about him?”

“You’re thinking of a reporter, and we don’t have any SHSL Reporters around here.”

“Perhaps you are right. My apologies.” Juliet bowed her head for a moment. “I still see no motivation for Cecil to kill Owen, though.”

“I don’t think there would be,” A hesitant voice murmured behind the group. Glancing over her shoulder, Raven saw Lauren stepping into the supply closet. “I mean, as much as I can’t stand the guy, I don’t think he’d kill Owen for money. He has plenty.”

Juliet nodded. “That was my train of thought.” She stood. “Now we only have to determine who would kill for money.”

“Perhaps the Swordsman?” Rose suggested, to which Raven shook her head.

“No, he would have used a sword, right?”   
“It would be too obvious then…” Lauren said.

Raven snapped her fingers. “Wait. Rose, didn’t you say it could be paint or powder?”

“I did, why?”

“Then the killer must have spilled powder they couldn’t get out of the carpet, and threw blood over it to cover it up!”

The other three girls thought it over. “That… does sound probable…” Juliet muttered, examining the pool of blood once more.

“But what would the powder be?” Rose asked.

“Makeup, maybe?” Lauren suggested. “Makeup powder is pretty hard to get out of carpets quickly. I figured that out at a couple of my shows, when we would spill eyeshadow on the rugs backstage.”

“And there’s only one person we know who would carry around makeup 24/7…” Juliet muttered.

_‘ITEM: SPILLED MAKEUP : HAS BEEN ADDED TO EVIDENCE’_

“Attention everyone!” Monokuma’s voice sounded through the school’s intercom. “The Class Trial is gonna start soon! Please report to the elevator behind the red door near the Gym.”

Rose turned towards the door. “Shall we be off, then?”

Everyone nodded and began making their way to the dreaded class trial.


	10. Part Ten: The Beginning of Despair (Second Trial Pt. 2)

**Part Ten: The Beginning of Despair (Second Trial Pt.2)**   
**ANGEL**

Scowling at the other students, Angel held her head high as she walked into the elevator. She towered over most of the other students due to her high heeled shoes. Cecil was glancing at the other students, she noticed, and it seemed like he was trying to put the pieces of the murder together. He wore his typical glare, and yet he seemed confident in whatever it was he was thinking about. It made her anxious.

The elevator jerked and began its descent down to the courtroom that held their fates. Angel began to fiddle with her charm bracelet, which she noticed was missing a charm. It was one her cousin had given her, and it was shaped like a white cartoon bunny. She pouted upon noticing the charm’s absence.

After a few moments, the elevator came to a halt and its doors opened, revealing the redecorated courtroom. Its walls were now a checkered red and gold, and the curtains hanging around the octagonal room were now a royal blue. Monokuma was lazily draped over his golden throne, poking his stuffed tummy repeatedly. Angel noticed that there were now signs where Ashe, Joe, and Owen had previously taken their places at the witness stands. The signs were pictures of their faces with pink Xs across them. Angel felt her stomach tighten looking at them. Despite her tough exterior, she felt utterly awful over the fact that three of the fifteen were already dead after just a few days in the despair school.

Everyone took their places, and the trial began.

“Alright y’alls, you know the drill! One of yous is lying, the others didn’t have the guts to kill anyone! Who killed the Cowardly Scientist?!” Monokuma announced excitedly.

“First thing we need to address is the murder weapon.” Cecil began. “It had to have been something easily accessible from where Owen was found.”

“What makes you say that?” Dylan questioned.

“Well, the supply closet would be a good place to find a weapon that could make the wound he had.” Link muttered.

“That was my train of thought.” Cecil muttered. “But what did the culprit use to kill him?”

  
“A tennis racket.” Rose stated.

“What?” Skyler said. “I thought it was a pipe or a wrench…”

“No, it couldn’t have been.” Juliet said simply. “We tested it. There would have been an indention in the skull where the head of the wrench is. We held up a wrench and a tennis racket to the wound, and the racket was a perfect match.”

“So that solves the murder weapon…” Dante muttered. “But what about bloodstains on the gym floor? And in the hallway? If we found Owen in the closet, how did the blood get there?”

“Owen must have been hit in the gym and dragged to the closet.” Alex mused. “The killer could have gotten the racket and then hit him while he was in the gym.”

“But why was he by himself in the gym?” Skyler asked.

“I have a theory.” Cecil stated. “Owen must have gone to the gym to summon Monokuma.”

“What?” Angel asked, baffled. “Why would he want to talk to that creepy stuffed toy?”

  
“HEY!!” Monokuma cried out.

“Quiet, you!” Cecil yelled, promptly shutting up the bear.

“But really, why would Owen seek out Monokuma?” Raven questioned.

“I’m not too certain, to tell the truth... “ Cecil mumbled. “I may be getting this from the spat he had with Monokuma about the ‘motive of the week’.”

The group thought on that for a moment.

“While we’re on the topic of blood,” Rose began. “Why is it that there was blood added to the crime scene after the body was moved?”

“Wait, what?!” Ian cried. “So you’re tellin’ me someone ADDED blood to the crime scene?! What the fuck?!”

“It’s true!” Lauren said, piping up. “The amount of blood on the floor underneath Owen can’t have been made from a head wound alone. Besides, the trails of blood didn’t even connect to the blood from his head.”

“Well, how do you know the killer didn’t make any other blows?” Angel countered, putting a hand on her hip.

“We checked.” Link said. “The only wounds on Owen were a broken wrist and the head wound.”

“That’s another thing: his wrist was broken. That means there was a struggle.” Juliet stated.

“And it had stopped at 1:30 P.M.- an hour after we had learned the next motive.” Raven confirmed.

“So that means the killer acted quickly.” Alex concluded.

“Now the question is to narrow down who was motivated enough by the allure of money that they decided to kill our Scientist…” Cecil murmured.

“Wait, going back to the blood,” Skyler said. “Why would the killer add blood to the body?”

“I can answer that!” Lauren said confidently. “It was probably to cover up a powder. I’m pretty sure it was makeup. It’s really hard to get out of carpets quickly and without making a scene.”

“And… how is it you know this?” Cecil questioned suspiciously.

“I’m a performer.” She deadpanned. “We spill makeup all the time backstage. My hometown theatre has carpeted dressing rooms to reduce noise.”

“...granted.” The Artist replied, embarrassed for not figuring it out on his own. Lauren smirked for trumping him over something so simple.

“So the killer added blood to the scene of the crime to cover the fact they spilled makeup.” Dante said. “So that means that the killer is probably a girl.”

“And what is that supposed to mean?” Juliet deadpanned.

Dante flushed. “I- uh- girls tend to wear makeup more than guys, s-so I just figured…” He stuttered.

“Have you seen Cecil? He’s wearing more makeup than the SHSL Model.”

Said Artist scowled at the her. “Petty insults are not needed in a murder trial, Soldier.”

“I am simply stating a fact, Artist.”

Cecil’s glare intensified.

“Though, to be fair, Cecil doesn’t carry his makeup with him to a murder. So Dante’s original assumption is likely correct.” Rose stated with a slight smile.

Cecil turned his glare to her. “I hate you all.”

“I’m certain you do.”

He scoffed.

“Then we just have to figure out whose makeup it was!” Dylan concluded.

“Precisely.” said Rose. “And I believe I know exactly who killed Owen.”

Angel’s eyes widened. “What?”

The Poet nodded. “After Lauren brought up the possibility that the extra blood was added to the scene to cover up makeup, all of the pieces fell together. You see, out of all of the students gathered here, there is only one person who carries makeup with them at all times. And it’s you, Angel Kasanoda, who killed the Scientist!”

There was a brief moment of silence. Everyone turned to stare at the SHSL Model, trying to put the pieces together themselves. A knot formed in Angel’s stomach, and she felt a chill run down her spine.

“Allow me to further elaborate.” began Cecil. “Angel, you had perfect motive for killing Owen. You needed that money. It could save your failing career.”

“H- How did you know about that?!” she cried out.

“I knew before we began attending. A quick Google search on you tells a lot. You were scammed out of most of your money and that left a stain on your reputation. Rumors began spreading that you’re willing to sleep with directors and photographers for money and work.”

“I think I get it…” Skyler said. “She thought if she could just kill Owen and cover up her tracks, she’d make it out with enough money to get her modeling career steady again.”

“Exactly.” confirmed Juliet.

“I also saw a charm you had on your bracelet on the ground in the gym.” Link said, pulling the lost bunny charm out of his pocket and holding it up in his gloved hand. “I noticed you were missing it when we all gathered in the elevator.”

A deep scowl formed itself on Angel’s face. “How… how DARE you all accuse me!!” She screamed. “I didn’t kill him! This- this is all a set up!! The Soldier probably did it! She’s already a murderous freak, t makes perfect sense!!”

“No, it doesn’t.” Skyler countered. “Angel, it was YOU who attacked Owen with a tennis racket and bashed his head in! All the evidence points to you.”

“This is a load of bullshit! Who are you to accuse me, you twat?! You’re in here out of pure LUCK, while I WORKED to get in here! You’re nothing compared to me! HOW DARE YOU?!”

A fearful look crossed Skyler’s face, but it left just as quickly as it had came. “You are the only one of us who could have done it!”

“What about the Swordsman?! He’s strong enough to bash someone’s skull in with a single swipe! Why aren’t you attacking him?!”

“Your desperation is giving you away.” Alex said.

“Shut up!! Shut up shut up shut up SHUT UP!!” She clutched at the edges of the witness stand. “None of you know ANYTHING!! I didn’t kill him!! I didn’t I didn’t I didn’t!!”

“You’re acting like a child!” Cecil sneered. “Just admit you killed him!”

“NEVER!! Go die in a fire!!” Her voice cracked on the last word.

“If you didn’t kill him, then prove you weren’t carrying makeup! Give us a solid alibi!” Lauren yelled, pointing an accusing finger at the Model.

Sweat was beginning to run down the side of her face. She felt trapped, like she had been cornered. WIth one last burst of failing confidence, she screamed “I DIDN’T KILL OWEN PALMER!!!”

“You’re wrong!” Skyler cried, shattering any will she had left to keep her argument strong. Her breathing quickened, and her heart began to pound. She hardened her scowl before a defeated look crossed her face. She sighed in defeat as Monokuma began to speak.

“Y’alls ready to vote now?!” The toy yelled.

“Yes, Monokuma. We’re ready.” Cecil said, smirking victoriously.

Despite everything crashing down around her, Angel kept herself composed. She couldn’t afford another outburst, especially not with her life at stake. To another, it might seem foolish or outright dumb to care about their appearance when they’re being tried for murder, but to her it was all she had left to cling onto as her world finally came crashing down. She maintained her composure as everyone cast their vote.

“Yup yup yup! You fucks got it right! The murderer is… Angel Kasanoda, SHSL Model!!!”

She closed her dark brown eyes and tilted her head up. “Yes, that’s right. I’m the killer.”

“But… why’d you kill Owen? Why him?!” Lauren cried, devastated at this new revelation. “He didn’t do anything to you! He was just a sweet guy! He just wanted to help people!” Tears had begun to stream down the Performer’s cheeks; tears that had clearly been suppressed.

Angel kept her stoic demeanor. “He was the easiest target. He was nothing but a weak scientist so I… killed him. I killed him for Monokuma’s stupid reward.” Her voice cracked once again.

“I’m sure y’alls would just HATE hearing about the fact that Angel’s managers completely screwed her over and cut off basically ALL of her profits; or how she resorted to stealing her cousin’s money; or how after eleven months of living on the streets she finally began fucking agents to make her name; or how Junko bought her way into this school! OH and don’t get me STARTED on the murder itself!!” Monokuma wailed melodramatically.

“Tell us about the murder, toy.” Cecil demanded, clearly thrilled to find out the gorey details.

“Alright alright, FINE, Pretty Boy. It’s actually really simple, and pretty clever for an airhead like the Model chick. She told Owen about a strange noise she had been hearing in the gym and wanted him to check out for her, since she was ‘too scared’ to go by herself. Owen said he would after lunch, and he did. But, Angel here had slipped away during the meal and grabbed a tennis racket from the supply closet. When Owen went to meet her in the gym, she crept up behind him and whacked him with the racket! It hit his back, so he turned around to fight back, breaking his wrist on the racket’s metal edges. She then bashed his head in and BAM! The Scientist was dead! She then dragged him back to the closet, without noticing the faint trail of blood leading behind her or that her charm bracelet broke.

“When she was dumping the body, she dropped her powder and it got deep into the carpets! And since the red carpets don’t match her dark complexion, it stood out too much and made it obvious who done it! So she ran to the infirmary and grabbed a package of blood, spreading it around where she dropped it and then ran away!”

“Is… Is this all true, Angel?” Link asked hesitantly.

She nodded. “Every last detail.”

The SHSL Swordsman shook his head in shame. “Human life has no dollar value; Owen’s life should not have been the price to pay for your mistakes.”

She laughed bitterly. “They weren’t even mine…”

“Alrighty, Imma just gonna cut off all this sentimental philosophical bullshit here and get right onto the murdering! Iiiiiiiiit’s PUNISHMENT TIME!!!”

He pounded his small hammer down on the giant red button that appeared before him. A serene smile crossed her lips as the chains shot out and grabbed her by her arms and legs and dragged her back to her death.

_**PUNISHMENT: WALK IT OFF** _

When she opened her eyes once again, her limbs were bound to a mechanism forcing her to walk down a white runway, a long, white gown flowing behind her. Loud pop music was blaring out of the speakers above her. The other students were sitting in the front row seats, and the rest wire filled up with cheering Monokumas. Their faces seemed oddly stoic from where she was.

When she reached the end of the runway, she could hear the Monokumas all booing at her. They all stood up, holding something in their hands as their boos increased in volume. The first stone came after the music had paused and she had taken a stop at the edge of the runway. It his her in the leg, and was only about the size of a grape. However, it did leave a small, purple bruise on her thigh. Then, stone after stone began pelting her, each one bigger than the last. They slammed into her legs, arms, torso, and face, one hitting her in the eye and causing blood to flow down her face and onto the white garment. She cried out in pain.

Then, the stones suddenly stopped.

She looked around with her remaining eye, confused yet relieved, when she heard the sound of rope straining. Hesitantly, she looked up, only to see she was directly underneath one of the large speaker clusters. It was flimsily held up with several strands of rope that were clearly beginning to fail. She felt a single tear run down her cheek from her good eye.

After a brief moment of tense silence, the rope gave out, causing the speakers to fall down onto her. She met eyes with Skyler right before the speakers came down on her, crushing her completely and making her vision black out.

“Here I come, cousin…”

 

**SURVIVORS LEFT: 11**


End file.
